Covid-19 Vaccine 'Covishield' To Be Ready By Jan 2021, Says Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla

Serum Institute of India is currently working in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca to produce the potential Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covishield.

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of Pune-based pharmaceutical company Serum Institute of India, on Wednesday said that if the approvals from regulatory bodies are in place and in time a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is likely to be available in the country by January 2021.  "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 it's proven immunogenic and efficacious," Poonawalla told the media. Serum Institute of India is currently working in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca to produce the potential Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covishield.

Covishield vaccine, which is being developed by the University of Oxford, is currently in phase 2/3 of the human clinical trials in the country and will be produced by the Serum Institute for low-and-middle-income countries.

The vaccine shot has so far been given to thousands of people in India and abroad with no safety concerns Poonawalla said and it will take around two to three years to ascertain the long-term effects of the vaccine, he further added. According to a report published in the British medical journal The Lancet, the potential Covid-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55. AstraZeneca and Oxford University have said a two-dose regimen showed greater promise, while a single-dose injection is also being tested in trials.

"The firm is in talks with the government over the pricing of the vaccine and assured that it will be made available at a reasonable price. We are certain that it will be affordable for all," Poonawalla said.

The Serum Institute has planned to manufacture about 60-70 million doses, and stretch it up to 100 million doses of the vaccine per month, Poonawalla said, adding, "We should be able to reach there over the next few months'. The largest vaccine producing firm in the world recently has also entered into a partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to speed up the process of manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for India and other third world countries. WATCH| top 20 political news of the day