SII's Chairman & MD meet VP Venkaiah Naidu; brief him on the institute's recent progress

Serum Institute of India (SII) Chairman and Managing Director Cyrus Poonawalla and its Executive Director Natasha Poonawalla on Monday met Vice President Venkaiah Naidu at Upa-Rashtrapati Nivas. During the meeting, Cyrus Poonawalla and Natasha Poonawalla appraised the Vice President about the progress made by the institute in recent days. 

READ | First Batch Of Covishield Vaccine Consignments Leave Pune's Serum Institute By Air & Road

SII's Adar Poonawalla announces 2nd Covid vaccine

Earlier on Friday, SII's CEO, Adar Poonawalla announced that the drug-making company is hoping to launch Novanax's coronavirus vaccine in India by June this year. In a tweet, Poonawalla said that his firm's partnership for a COVID-19 vaccine with Novavax has also published excellent efficacy results and that they have also applied to start trials in India. In India, Serum Institute will be manufacturing around 1 billion doses of the vaccine under the local brand Covovax, with half of them expected to be reserved for India. 

SII has also applied to the drug controller's office to conduct a small domestic trial of Novavax Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, which was found to be 89.3% effective in a UK trial. Serum expected a decision on an Indian trial of Novavax's vaccine soon, Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla told Reuters on Friday, hours after the US company reported the efficacy data.

"We have already applied to the drug controller's office for the bridging trial, a few days ago," Poonawalla said. "So they should also give that approval soon now."

Novavax vaccine found effective against new UK COVID-19 variant

Meanwhile, Novavax has become the first immune dose to definitively confirm protection against the new variant of the deadly virus which was detected in the UK late last year. A late-stage clinical trial involving over 15,000 people in the UK found that the vaccine produced by the American firm is 89.3% effective in preventing coronavirus and offered 85.6% protection against the new British strain of COVID-19, which is up to 70% more transmissible. 

A smaller, separate trial also showed that it was about 60% effective against the South African variant, despite concerns that this strain may not respond to vaccines.

READ | Fire At Serum Institute Of India LIVE Updates: 5 Dead; SII Announces Rs 25 Lakh Ex-gratia

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the findings as good news and confirmed that the UK will now go ahead with the assessment and approval process for the jabs by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Once cleared for public use, Novavax will become the fourth vaccine to be deployed in the UK in the coming weeks, joining the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca, and Moderna jabs.

The study was conducted in partnership with the UK government's Vaccines Taskforce and assessed efficacy during a period with high transmission and with a new UK variant strain of the virus emerging and circulating widely.  "This is positive news and, if approved by the medicines regulator, the Novavax vaccine will be a significant boost to our vaccination program and another weapon in our arsenal to beat this awful virus," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

READ | Serum Institute Seeks Permit To Conduct Bridging Trial Of Novavax COVID Vaccine In India

The Novavax vaccine also requires two doses, like the other vaccines being administered to the most vulnerable groups. "NVX-CoV2373 is the first vaccine to demonstrate not only high clinical efficacy against COVID-19 but also significant clinical efficacy against both the rapidly emerging UK and South Africa variants," said Stanley C. Erck, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax.

While Pfizer and Moderna vaccines rely on technology that has not been used in previous vaccines, the Novavax jab uses a more traditional method of recreating part of the spike protein of the virus to stimulate the immune system and can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures like the Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs.

READ | As India Approves 2 Covid Vaccines, Here's What DCGI Spoke On Serum Institute's Covishield

(With ANI inputs)