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Coronavirus vaccine production will start in 3 weeks: Serum Institute
Agencies | New Delhi | Last Updated at April 27 2020 01:36 IST
The Pune-based company has partnered with Oxford University as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine
Vaccine major Serum Institute of India on Sunday said it planned to start production of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University in the next two to three weeks and hoped to bring it to the market by October if the human clinical trials were successful.
The Pune-based company has partnered with Oxford University as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine.
“Our team has been working closely with Dr Hill from Oxford University, and we are expecting to initiate production of the vaccine in 2-3 weeks and produce 5 million doses per month for the first 6 months, following which, we hope to scale up production to 10 million doses per month,” Serum Institute India chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.
Serum Institute has collaborated with scientists at Oxford University for a malaria vaccine project in the past and can say with certainty that they are some of the best scientists, he added.
“We expect the (Covid-19) vaccine to be out in the market by September-October, only if the trials are successful with the requisite safety and assured efficacy. We will be starting trials in India for this vaccine hopefully over the next two-three weeks,” Poonawalla said.
Serum Institute will be manufacturing the vaccine in anticipation of clinical trials succeeding by September-October in the UK, he said. “Following that, we have undertaken the decision to initiate manufacturing at our own risk. The decision has been solely taken to have a jump-start on manufacturing, to have enough doses available, if the clinical trials prove successful.”
The drug manufacturer plans to initiate the trials in India for the vaccine with necessary regulatory approvals, which are underway presently.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Migrants' daily needs being taken care of, govt tells SC
“Keeping the current situation in mind, we have funded this endeavour at a personal capacity and hopefully will be able to enlist the support of other partners to further scale-up the vaccine production,” Poonawalla said.
The vaccines will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Pune. Building a new facility for Covid-19 vaccine would have taken around 2-3 years, he added.
The Indian regulatory authorities are working with the company to ensure smooth procedural functioning. “We are in touch with the Department of Biotechnology and ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research),” Poonawalla said.
The company had earlier said it will not patent any Covid-19 vaccine which it develops.
Asked about the decision, Poonawalla reiterated, “We will not patent Serum's vaccine for Covid-19 and will make it available for all to produce and sell, not just in India but across the world.” Whosoever makes and develops the vaccine will need multiple partners to manufacture the vaccine, he added.
“I hope that whichever company develops the vaccine does not get it patented and makes it available based on royalties or a commercial understanding to as many manufacturers across the world to make billions of dosages at a fast pace,” Poonawalla said.
Agencies | New Delhi | Last Updated at April 27 2020 01:36 IST
The Pune-based company has partnered with Oxford University as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine
Vaccine major Serum Institute of India on Sunday said it planned to start production of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University in the next two to three weeks and hoped to bring it to the market by October if the human clinical trials were successful.
The Pune-based company has partnered with Oxford University as one of the seven global institutions manufacturing the vaccine.
“Our team has been working closely with Dr Hill from Oxford University, and we are expecting to initiate production of the vaccine in 2-3 weeks and produce 5 million doses per month for the first 6 months, following which, we hope to scale up production to 10 million doses per month,” Serum Institute India chief executive Adar Poonawalla said.
Serum Institute has collaborated with scientists at Oxford University for a malaria vaccine project in the past and can say with certainty that they are some of the best scientists, he added.
“We expect the (Covid-19) vaccine to be out in the market by September-October, only if the trials are successful with the requisite safety and assured efficacy. We will be starting trials in India for this vaccine hopefully over the next two-three weeks,” Poonawalla said.
Serum Institute will be manufacturing the vaccine in anticipation of clinical trials succeeding by September-October in the UK, he said. “Following that, we have undertaken the decision to initiate manufacturing at our own risk. The decision has been solely taken to have a jump-start on manufacturing, to have enough doses available, if the clinical trials prove successful.”
The drug manufacturer plans to initiate the trials in India for the vaccine with necessary regulatory approvals, which are underway presently.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus LIVE: Migrants' daily needs being taken care of, govt tells SC
“Keeping the current situation in mind, we have funded this endeavour at a personal capacity and hopefully will be able to enlist the support of other partners to further scale-up the vaccine production,” Poonawalla said.
The vaccines will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Pune. Building a new facility for Covid-19 vaccine would have taken around 2-3 years, he added.
The Indian regulatory authorities are working with the company to ensure smooth procedural functioning. “We are in touch with the Department of Biotechnology and ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research),” Poonawalla said.
The company had earlier said it will not patent any Covid-19 vaccine which it develops.
Asked about the decision, Poonawalla reiterated, “We will not patent Serum's vaccine for Covid-19 and will make it available for all to produce and sell, not just in India but across the world.” Whosoever makes and develops the vaccine will need multiple partners to manufacture the vaccine, he added.
“I hope that whichever company develops the vaccine does not get it patented and makes it available based on royalties or a commercial understanding to as many manufacturers across the world to make billions of dosages at a fast pace,” Poonawalla said.
