Serum Institute of India (SII) has said the company is going to produce 3 to 4 million doses of the experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca by December this year.
According to Hindustan Times, Adar Poonawalla, SII’s chief executive officer, said Covishield is the first Covid-19 vaccine they hope to launch if the trials are successful both in the United Kingdom and in India.
The vaccine from AstraZeneca and Britain’s University of Oxford prompted no serious side effects and elicited antibody and T-cell immune responses with the strongest response seen in people who received two doses, according to trial results published in The Lancet medical journal on Monday.
SII, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it gets ready.
They are expected to start the trials of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate by the end of August on up to 5,000 Indian volunteers after getting the necessary nods and launch the vaccine by June next year if all goes well.
Oxford University on Monday announced satisfactory progress with the vaccine, making it one of the leading ones among the dozens of vaccine candidates being developed around the world.
It has tied up with Serum Institute to manufacture and supply the vaccine to India and over 60 other countries having a combined population of 3 billion.
According to the BBC, the UK government has signed deals for 90 million doses of promising coronavirus vaccines that are being developed.
