Adar Poonawalla chief executive officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India(SII), on Wednesday said that a vaccine to curb the covid-19 infection could be available by January 2021 after permission from regulatory bodies.
SII has collaborated with UK based AstraZeneca Plc. to manufacture millions of doses of its potential covid-19 vaccine candidate, Covishield. AstraZeneca’s vaccine developed with Oxford University has been one of the most touted vaccines around the globe as it was well-tolerated by the volunteers in the early-stage trials.
Covishield is currently in the phase 2/3 clinical trial in India and will be produced by SII for sixty low-and-middle income countries.
In an interview with Mint, Poonawalla said, “Based on the success of the trials in India and the United Kingdom, and if approvals from regulatory bodies are in place in time, then we can expect the vaccine to be available in India by January 2021, only if its proven immunogenic and efficacious.”
Talking about price of the vaccine, Mr Poonawalla said, “We are certain that it will be affordable for all.” He further mentioned that they will soon reach their target of producing 100 million doses of the vaccine candidate.
AstraZeneca and Oxford University have said that two-dose of the vaccine showed greater results among volunteers, while a single-dose injection is also being tested in trials.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca Plc has said that Britain’s health regulator had started an accelerated review of its potential coronavirus vaccine.
“We confirm the MHRA’s (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) rolling review of our potential Covid-19 vaccine,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said.
In an earlier statement, AstraZeneca had said that its experimental covid-10 vaccine developed strong immune response among older adults and vulnerable groups. It also added that the vaccine did not trigger any notable adverse effects among the volunteers.
