The COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Oxford University and British firm – AstraZeneca, named Covidhield, could well be available in India within a couple of months – by January 2021, said Adar Poonawalla, the CEO pf Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawalla said on 4th November, 2020. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 2 and 3 trials and based on the success of these trials in India and the UK, with mandatory approvals from regulatory bodies in place in time, the vaccine would be available to Indian citizens by the start of next year, if it is able to produce the desired immune response.
Poonawalla added that the data gathered from ongoing clinical trials indicated that there were no immediate concerns related to the vaccine as thousands of people had been administered the same in India and abroad, with no cause for concern.
SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is currently conducting the Phase 3 trial of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate in India. It is anticipated that Covishield will be one of the first to secure regulatory approval, along with vaccine candidates from US-based Pfizer and Moderna Inc, as scientists across the world endeavour to find a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
Poonawalla said that SII aims to initially manufacture about 60-70 million doses, and expand it up to 100 million doses of the vaccine per month. Homegrown pharma company Bharat Biotech is also planning to launch its vaccine named ‘Covaxin’, in the second quarter of 2021, subject to approvals from the Indian regulatory authorities, as per media sources. Covaxin is being developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV) and is undergoing Phase 3 trials in India. As many as 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally, with 38 in human trial stage.
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