SII to produce an additional 100 million COVID-19 vaccine dosages for low-income countries

As the race for the COVID-19 vaccine continues, Serum Institute of India (SII) announced that it would produce an additional of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for India and other countries in collaboration with Gavi, Vaccine Alliance and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. SII announced that these dosages would be made available across the world to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) by 2021. Keeping SII's previous goal in mind, a total of 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines would be produced through this partnership. 

"Through the avid support of Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we will now manufacture and deliver up to an additional 100 million doses of immunogenic and safe-proven future COVID-19 vaccines to India and low- and middle-income countries in 2021. This association is in line with our efforts to see that the future vaccines reaches the remotest part of the world providing full immunisation coverage in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic," Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII said.

Read: COVID-19 Vaccine: Serum Institute Gets DCGI Nod To Resume Phase Two, Three Trials

Read: Novavax Revises COVID-19 Vaccine Deal With Serum Institute; Aims For 2 Billion Doses

As per the company's statement, the vaccines licensed from AstraZeneca and Novavax, if made available, will have a ceiling price of US$3 per dose. Novavax had signed a deal with Serum Institute in August, to produce a minimum of one billion doses of its vaccine candidate. On the other hand, the collaboration between Gavi, SII, and the Gates Foundation is being seen as a way to accelerate the development as well as the global access of COVID-19 vaccines.

Serum Insitute of India is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced and sold globally which about more than 1.3 billion doses. Vaccines manufactured by Serum are certified by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in approximately 170 countries across the globe. As per the latest reports, SII is all set to restart its phase two and three clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine after getting the nod from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

Read: DCGI Orders Serum Institute Of India To Suspend Recruitment For Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

Read: 'Won’t Be Enough Covid Vaccines For Everyone Till 2024': Serum Institute's Adar Poonawalla

(With Agency Inputs)