Corona Virus Vaccine: India’s top vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) Friday announced that it will produce up to 100 million doses of Corona vaccine at an affordable price of just $3 dollars or approximately Rs 250 per dose.
Serum Institute of India (SII) hopes to make the vaccine available in 92 low and middle income countries.
The SII CEO Adar Poonawalla announced on Twitter that the company has joined hands with Gavi and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for accelerating the vaccine project.
I would like to thank @BillGates, @gatesfoundation, @GaviSeth for this key partnership of risk sharing and manufacturing of a 100 million doses, which will also ensure equitable access at an affordable price to many countries around the world. https://t.co/NDmpo23Ay8 pic.twitter.com/jNaNh6xUPy
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) August 7, 2020
Gavi (formerly known as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) is a global health partnership of public and private sector organizations dedicated to “immunisation for all”.
Under the collaboration, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide the funding of $150 million to Gavi, which will in turn be used to support the SII to manufacture the potential vaccine candidates.
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The announcement comes a day after American vaccine development firm Novavax Inc. announced that it has entered a supply and license agreement with the Pune based Indian vaccine giant SII for the development and commercialization of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate.
As per the agreement, the SII will have exclusive rights for the vaccine in India and other low- and middle-income countries during the term of the deal, while Novavax will continue to retain rights for major upper-middle and high-income countries.
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Pune based vaccine manufacturer is working with Oxford University and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the Corona virus vaccine.
Clinical trials for the vaccine are currently in process. India’s drug regulator, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has cleared the SII for conducting phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials.
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AstraZeneca had also announced last month that the interim results from the ongoing Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials conducted by Oxford University showed that the vaccine was tolerated and generated robust immune responses against the Covid-19 virus.
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