The world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, Serum Institute of India (SII), is close to signing a supply contract with the government at the Centre and likely to fix prices at Rs 250 ($3.39) per dose of the vaccine, said a report
According to a report published on the Business Standard, the government is pinning its hopes for mass supply on Serum Institute, which lodged the first formal application for emergency-use approval of AstraZeneca’s shot on Monday
The Pune-based SII has collaborated with AstraZeneca and Oxford University for manufacturing the vaccine and is conducting phase-three clinical trials of the Covishield vaccine in India.
The Pune-based SII has collaborated with AstraZeneca and Oxford University for manufacturing the vaccine and is conducting phase-three clinical trials of the Covishield vaccine in India.
He further added, “This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support”.
Earlier, CEO Poonawalla said the vaccine would be priced at 1,000 rupees ($13.55) per dose in India’s private market, but governments signing large supply deals would likely buy it at lower prices. Poonawalla had said Serum will first focus on supplying the vaccine to Indians before distributing it to other countries.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI.
Official sources, citing the SII application, said the firm has stated that data from four clinical studies, two in the UK and one each in Brazil and India, shows that Covishield is highly efficacious against symptomatic and most importantly against severe COVID-19 infections.
According to sources, this vaccine is logistically feasible for distribution in the country’s both urban and rural parts as it can be stored at two to eight degrees celsius.
