Tag: Serum Insitute of India (SII)

COVID booster dose: Reduce time gap to 6 months from 9, Serum Institute tells govt

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Vaccine major Serum Institute of India (SII) has appealed to the government to reduce the gap between the second and booster dose to six months from nine months at present to safeguard people against emerging COVID variants, according to its CEO Adar Poonawalla. Recalling that they could not meet the commitment of exporting vaccines in the first quarter of 2021 due to “so much noise from public and the Opposition,” Poonawalla on April 12 also pitched for a global pact for vaccine utilisation.

He noted that India and SII faced severe reputation damage when export of COVID vaccine was banned for nearly two months during the second COVID wave. “The uptake (for precaution dose) right now is a bit slow as we have a rule that you have to wait for nine months between dose two and dose three. We have appealed to the government and the experts, who are having discussions regarding the matter, to reduce this period to six months,” he said during an AIMA event here.

Also read: UN chief Antonio Guterres warns of large COVID outbreaks in Asia, says pandemic far from over

Poonawalla noted that reducing the timeframe would give “real relief” to the people who want to travel abroad. If you have taken a dose in August then only you are eligible for a booster dose, so we need to reduce that gap to six months. Many citizens would be able to take the dose then,” he said. He pointed outs that all across the world, the gap between second dose and booster shot is six months or less.

When asked if the company is in discussions with the government on the issue, Poonawalla replied in the affirmative. “The experts and the government need to have their own discussions. We are just highlighting that this is the need that everyone has voiced from a practical standpoint from wanting to travel. So we have proposed a six month gap.”

Also read: COVID shot for less than Rs 150 likely by yearend; Epygen Biotech gets govt funding for new vaccine

Against this backdrop, he also pointed out that the world faces a choice between lockdowns and booster shots. “It is so important to boost with whichever vaccines you can get your hands on, because that will ensure that you are protected and we reduce as a nation or even as states the chances of future lockdowns and disruptions… that’s why I’ve been telling the government that please, for god’s sake, reduce the gap from nine months to six months,” Poonawalla said.

Lauding the government for having brought in a booster policy, he said SII has brought down the price of Covishield from Rs 600 per shot to Rs 225 as it wants to make it affordable and accessible for people. He advised all eligible people to take the shot in order to safeguard against future COVID variants which were emerging in different locations.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: Covishield, Covaxin price cut to Rs 225 for private hospitals

Poonawalla said the Pune-based vaccine major is giving compensation to private hospitals by way of three doses to adjust on the reduced prices. “So any hospitals that have old stock at Rs 600, they don’t have to sell at a loss, we give them more vials so they don’t go into a loss. We don’t want them to lose money on old stock,” he stated.

Poonawalla said he is working on a global pandemic treaty, which espouses harmonisation of regulatory standards during a global pandemic situation, at the Davos summit next month. “We need to address not only as a nation… We have to have in a pandemic situation global harmonisation of regulatory standards. We need to have mutual recognition of vaccine certifications. We need to have a free flow of goods of raw materials and vaccines in a crisis so that that sharing happens,” he stated.

Also read: Sweden to give 4th COVID-19 shot to people over 65

According to him, with a global pandemic treaty, countries can always use their sovereign rights or whatever to abstain rather than relegate from it, but it would become much harder for political leaders to do that on a global stage.

“It would also make it much easier for politicians to convince their constituents in their own nations that this is the right thing to do and we’ve committed and signed up at a global level to do it,” he noted.

He noted that vaccine exports were hit during the second wave of COVID-19. “We were trying to export vaccines in the first quarter of 2021. The Opposition, government and others felt that all the vaccines should remain in India. But what we failed to communicate to them perhaps as a community was that we get a lot of reciprocity from other countries because India is the pharmacy of the world,” Poonawalla said.

Also read: COVID-19: XE variant not more severe than Omicron, says Gagandeep Kang

He further said: “And our help and support to other nations gives us a lot of other things that I won’t go into at the moment including the fact that when we needed oxygen, when we needed other things, other countries have stepped up and helped us because we supported them.”

The country should have continued giving some vaccines but there was so much noise from the public and the Opposition that the government had no choice but to agree and keep all the vaccines for India, Poonawalla stated.

“That damaged the reputation of India and Indian companies abroad who had made commitments. So all these things are sometimes not easy to convey and articulate and, you know, with the media and the public at large in a crisis it is very difficult to manage that communication. And I hope that these are some of the learnings going forward,” he added.

Also read: DCGI gives nod to phase-3 clinical trial of Covovax as booster dose in adults

Having a treaty would explain all this and give those commitments ahead of time, he said. He noted that at some point in time the Indian government helped the company to get raw materials from the US during the pandemic.

“That was not necessarily in the sense that if we had a treaty and understanding in place at the country level, it would have been automatic. And that’s what we need to get done,” he added.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Made in India vaccine getting Europe, Australia approvals big for us: Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Serum Insitute of India’s chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla has said his made in India vaccine getting approvals in Europe and Australia is a big milestone.

“This is the first time a vaccine made in India has been approved in Europe and Australia. It is a big milestone for us,” Poonawalla told CNBC-TV18 in an exclusive chat.

“Have dispatched 30 million does of made in India COVID vaccination Nuvaxovoid (Novovax) to Europe and Australia. This again is a first for an Indian manufacturer,” he said.

The vaccine has been priced at a minimum of $5 per dose and the price varies from country to country, the Serum CEO said. Serum is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume.

The vaccine is also being manufactured in Europe. In Europe, the vaccine is being manufactured under the trade name Nuvaxovid and has been approved by the European Medicines Agency, and in India, it is being manufactured by Serum and has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India.

Nuvaxovid was the fifth vaccine recommended in Europe for preventing COVID-19. The European Medicines Agency had recommended granting conditional marketing authorisation for Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid (also known as NVX-CoV2373) to prevent COVID-19 in people from 18 years of age in December.

Covovax, is produced by the Serum Institute of India under licence from Novavax and is part of the COVAX facility portfolio. In October last year, Poonawalla had said: “We have made a lot of sacrifices, and (of) a lot of other products, so that we can give India and the world as much Covishield (as possible) and then eventually Covovax.”

He has then said: “Covovax could be filled at Biocon’s facilities, or it could be filled at our place, we are still exploring that we have enough fill-finish for Covovax. If we do Covovax filling, it will most probably be with Biocon which is our partner in so many other things now. We will wait and see. But the quantum will be around 30 to 40 million doses a month, starting January.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Serum CEO Adar Poonawalla has a message for Djokovic on COVID-19 jabs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of Serum Institute of India, has urged Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic to get vaccinated against COVID-19 through a unique video he shared on Twitter.

The Serum CEO posted a 13-second video of himself playing a match dressed in white tennis attire. The accompanying text read: “I respect your personal views on not getting vaccinated @DjokerNole and love watching you play, but I hope you change your mind. In the meantime, the rest of us now might stand a chance at a Grand Slam.”

Djokovic, the 20-time Grand Slam winner, has not taken vaccinated against coronavirus. He insists that he is willing to miss out on future tennis trophies, too, than be forced to take the jab.

Serum’s Pune-based firm makes the COVID-19 vaccination Covishied in partnership with AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Serum is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.

I respect your personal views on not getting vaccinated @DjokerNole and love watching you play, but I hope you change your mind. In the meantime, the rest of us now might stand a chance at a Grand Slam.☺️ pic.twitter.com/89kW3MWdVt

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) February 17, 2022

Last month, Djokovic was prevented from participating in the Australian Open tournament due to his unvaccinated status. The 34-year-old tennis superstar was detained and eventually deported from Australia for failing to meet that country’s strict vaccination requirements.

Also Read: Willing to sacrifice trophies to avoid COVID-19 vaccine: Novak Djokovic

The tennis start may actually end up missing the Wimbledon tournament due to his decision to forgo COVID-19 vaccine shots.

A few days ago, Djokovic was again quoted by BBC as saying that he was still not vaccinated and prepared to sacrifice titles to stay that way. However, the No 1-ranked tennis player has maintained he is not opposed to vaccinations.

Djokovic, on his part his adamant about his right to shun the COVID-19 vaccine. “I have never said that I’m part of that movement,” he told the media, but added that “The principles of decision-making on my body are more important than any title, or anything else.”

Also Read: Djokovic set to leave Australia after losing court appeal

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Adar Poonawalla’s Serum Institute waives legal protection, gives refugee COVID vaccination programme a shot in the arm

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Serum Institute of India (SII) has waived its protection from legal liabilities for any Covishield shots it supplies to a global programme for refugees, a spokesperson for the GAVI vaccine alliance told Reuters on Wednesday.

The news comes days after Reuters reported that tens of millions of migrants may be denied COVID-19 vaccines from the vaccine-sharing programme COVAX because of concerns over who would be liable in the event of harmful side-effects.

Many COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers require that countries indemnify them for any adverse events suffered by individuals as a result of the vaccines. But where governments are not in control — in the case of refugees — that is not possible.

Also read: India has supplied over 723 lakh doses of Covid vaccine to 94 countries, two UN entities: Govt

With the waiver, SII’s version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, Covishield, can now be allocated to COVAX’s Humanitarian Buffer — a last-resort reserve of shots to be distributed by humanitarian groups, the GAVI representative said.

SII, the world’s biggest manufacturer of vaccines which also produces a version of Novavax’s COVID-19 shot, declined to comment.

AstraZeneca-Serum are currently the main suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX, but are set to be displaced by Pfizer and BioNTech at the start of 2022.

GAVI, a public-private partnership, was set up in 2000 to promote vaccination around the world. It operates COVAX together with the World Health Organization to supply COVID-19 shots to poorer nations.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Loss of learning has been disastrous for children across developing world: Gates Foundation

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

From alleviating global poverty to financial inclusion, the 18 sustainable development goals set by the United Nations have received a body blow due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Annual Goalkeepers report put forward by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 31 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty, the economic recovery has been uneven, 90 percent of advanced economies are expected to return to the pre-pandemic level for per capita income by next year, but only 1/3 of low and middle income countries are expected to return to pre-COVID levels by next year.

While the job market is largely recovering for men, it is not the same for women who were expected to see 13 million fewer jobs compared to the 2019 levels. This, even as women spend three times as much time doing unpaid care work compared to men.

The loss of education and learning has been disastrous for children across the developing world and that is not all, children are also missing some essential vaccines on account of the pandemic.

To discuss the findings of the Goalkeepers report and more importantly, to address several of these pressing issues, CNBC-TV18’s Shereen Bhan spoke to Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Suzman said, “Part of the reason we started the Goalkeepers report at the Gates Foundation was because so many people in the world didn’t understand how much progress was being made. Over a billion people were brought out of poverty, extreme poverty during the 2000s, many of them in India. Childhood vaccination rates halved and this was happening all over the world, in Latin America, in Asia, in Sub Saharan Africa and suddenly COVID has sort of stopped and put that into reverse for so many countries.”

“We see those knock on effects, as you say, on immunisation, on per capita income, in education and other areas and so really, the report is a call to action to say, we need to step in, provide the resources to the national global level, to both reverse these shortcomings that we have seen over the last couple of days, and then accelerate progress so that we can still meet those ambitious sustainable development goals by 2030, which include trying to eliminate extreme poverty.”

On vaccination, Suzman said, “One of the most disturbing aspects of the global pandemic, while there was good global intention and we are working with many countries and other partners helped set up the COVAX initiative, well over a year ago, which was intended to try to provide vaccines on an equitable way globally, that has simply not happened.”

“We are in a stage where 80 percent of all vaccines have been distributed in high income or upper middle income countries. Only 1 percent of vaccines have been distributed to the lowest income countries, only 1.8 percent of Africans, for example, are vaccinated. This is deeply problematic not just for equity, but actually for tackling the pandemic because the more unvaccinated populations we have the greater risk of new variants that will come up and that might be vaccine resistance.”

“As the IMF has pointed out that we should be maximising that process and to date that has failed. That said we are optimistic that they are there is light at the end of the tunnel, as you say that COVAX is now starting to be able to ramp up our global supply significantly and the projections for the second half of this year and early next year are much more encouraging in terms of being able to provide global provisions including we hope that at some point, there will be a resumption of some of the exports from India. Also we still hope that there will be some new approvals for other vaccines.”

On vaccine production, he said, “We have supported Serum Institute of India, in this case with the two vaccines for Covishield and Covovax. We were always in conversations and had talked to some other Indian manufacturers about where their support might be needed. We have actually been having discussions with the government and other partners about where we may be able to help support and facilitate some future potential mRNA vaccine production in India for the medium and long term.”

“Here India is going to be absolutely central as it is to this crisis because it is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume and going forward both in the short and long term, we expect to be engaging deeply with a full range of Indian partners, governmental and private sector partners both on the COVID response and going forward for pandemic preparedness in the future.”

For full interview, watch accompanying video…

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Centre places order with SII for 66 crore Covishield doses; to be supplied by December

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Centre has placed an order with the Serum Institute of India (SII) for 66 crore doses of Covishield, to be supplied by December, official sources said on September 9. The development comes after Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, informed the Union Health Ministry that the firm would be able to supply 20.29 crore doses of Covishield in September.

The Pune-based firm has enhanced the manufacturing capacity of Covishield to more than 20 crore doses per month. The Health Ministry had in July placed an order with Bharat Biotech for 28.50 crore doses of Covaxin, but the firm has not yet started the supply, an official source said.

Bharat Biotech is close to completing the supply of five crore doses of Covaxin, for which the Health Ministry had placed an order on March 12, the source said. The source added that the ministry had placed an order for 37.50 crore doses of Covishield between August and December and SII is going to complete this supply by mid-September.

On August 31, as the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed the 65-crore mark, Singh, in his communication to NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V.K. Paul and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had mentioned that SII alone has supplied more than 60 crore doses of Covishield. Of these 60 crore doses, 2.1 crore were provided in January, 2.5 crore in February, over 4.73 crore in March, more than 6.25 crore in April, over 5.96 crore in May, more than 9.68 crore in June, over 12.37 crore in July and more than 16.92 crore in August, he had said.

In May, Singh had written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, mentioning that its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic. “We are pleased to inform that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply 9-10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May,” he had said in the letter.

“Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C. Poonawalla, our team have been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic,” he had said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Covishield does not have marketing authorisation in EU: EMA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Amid controversy over Covishield beneficiaries being ineligible to travel to the EU, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday said that the vaccine does not currently have a marketing authorisation in the EU.

In an exclusive statement to CNBC-TV18, the EMA stated that it is in charge of the evaluation of vaccines for marketing authorisation in the EU, but was not responsible for any decision regarding travelling conditions associated with COVID-19 vaccination.

“It might be helpful to first clarify what is the European Medicines Agency’s role. EMA is in charge of the scientific evaluation of medicines/vaccines in view of their marketing authorisation in the EU. However, EMA is not  responsible for any decision regarding travelling into the EU and travelling conditions associated with COVID-19 vaccination, such as the EU Digital COVID Certificate. This is a matter for the European Commission and for individual Member States,” the agency said.

“In the EU, the vaccine called Covishield does not currently have a marketing authorisation. Even though it may use an analogous production technology to Vaxzevria (the COVID-19 Astra Zeneca vaccine authorised in the EU), Covishield as such is not currently approved under EU rules. Should we receive a marketing authorisation application for Covishield or should any change to the approved manufacturing sites for Vaxzevria be approved, we would communicate about it,” the statement added.

The statement came after the reports that Europe’s Vaccine Passport programme, which recognises a few COVID-19 vaccines whose beneficiaries will be able to travel to Europe, include AstraZeneca but not Covishield.

Also Read: Explained: How exclusion of Covishield from EU’s Green Pass vaccine list impacts Indians

Indians who are expected to travel to European countries require a digital COVID certificate, popularly known as ‘Green Pass’ or a digital ‘Vaccine Passport’ from July 1. EMA’s approved list of vaccines has Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Moderna’s Spikevax, AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Vaxzevria and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen.

Earlier today, Serum Institute of India (SII) requested the government to take up the matter of inclusion of Covishield vaccine in the EU COVID-19 Vaccination Passport with the European Union and other countries, citing this will affect students and business travellers and cause severe disruptions to the Indian and global economy.

“I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken Covishield are facing issues with travel to the EU, I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries,” Aadar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 28, 2021

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: How exclusion of Covishield from EU’s Green Pass vaccine list impacts Indians

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Serum Institute’s Covishield is not on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved vaccine list required for travel to the European Union (EU).

Nearly three million (30 lakh Indians) who are expected to travel to European countries require a digital COVID certificate, popularly known as ‘Green Pass’ or a digital vaccine passport, from July 1. EMA’s approved list of vaccines has Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Moderna’s Spikevax, AstraZeneca-Oxford’s Vaxzervria and J&J’s Janssen.

The European Commission says 16 countries (out of 27) have begun using the EU’s Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) to enable international travellers to easily travel across the bloc. Restrictions on American tourists have also been lifted.

What is EU Green Pass?

The EUDCC or digital green pass will facilitate safe free movement of citizens and tourists into and within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is a digital piece of evidence that a person has either been vaccinated against COVID-19; received a negative test result; or recovered from COVID-19.

Why is Covishield Excluded?

The EMA said Serum Institute has not applied for Covishield’s approval.

Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla tweeted to reassure affected people that he has taken up the matter at the highest levels to ensure that Indians vaccinated with Covishied don’t face travel issues when it came to the EU.

The WHO-approved global COVAX alliance includes Covishield. However, though EMA recognises Vaxzervria (by AstraZeneca-Oxford), it has excluded Serum Institute’s Covishield (biologically equivalent and derived from AstraZeneca’s Vaxzervria), which has been included in the emergency use list of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Vaxzervria, is being produced largely by three firms — Serum Institute (India), SK Biosciences (South Korea) and AstraZeneca’s four sites.

I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries.

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 28, 2021

How are Indians Placed?

In 2019, 1.8 million (19 lakh) Indians visited central/eastern Europe and 1.1 million (11 lakh) Indians visited western Europe, according to Statista.

Indians who got Covishield will be considered unvaccinated and could be barred from getting travel visas by many EU member countries.

The emergence of new COVID-19 ‘variants of concern’ such as the Delta Plus, and the growing number of infections (over 50 in 12 Indian states) here have led EU member countries to curtail visa approval for international travellers from India.

France and Germany said they will only allow EMA approved vaccines.

Has EMA Allowed Other Vaccines?

EMA has given EU member states the option to accept other vaccination certificates, like those included in WHO’s emergency use list — CoronaVac (Sinovac Biotech), Sinopharm (Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products) and Serum Institute of India. Other jabs that are under rolling review by EMA are CVnCoV, NVX-CoV2373 and Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Pfizer in final stages of agreement to supply vaccine doses to India, says CEO Albert Bourla

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

US Pharma giant Pfizer is in the final stages of an agreement with India to supply anti-COVID-19 vaccines, CEO Dr Albert Bourla said on Tuesday.

He observeded that the domestically manufactured vaccines would be the backbone of vaccinating the Indian people. Addressing the 15th edition of the India-US Bio Pharma & Healthcare Summit being organised by the US-India Chamber of Commerce,

Dr Bourla also said that Pfizer has made a specific plan that the mid and low-income countries, which includes India, will receive at least two billion of such doses.

Talking about agreement with the Indian government Bourla said, “My hope is that very soon we will finalise the approval of the product in India by the Indian health care authorities and the agreement with the government so that we can also start sending vaccines, on our side.”

The Pfizer CEO said that significant local manufacturing of vaccines that is happening at the Serum Institute of India (SII) will provide the backbone of vaccinating the Indian people.

“But getting the additional mRNA vaccines from us and also from Moderna will contribute significantly,” he said. Pfizer, he said, is confident of producing three billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines and another four billion by next year, making it seven billion in all.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Covovax launch unlikely in September as SII yet to receive raw materials: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Serum Institute of India (SII) may be forced to delay the launch of  its second COVID-19 vaccine Covovax as it is yet to receive raw materials from the US. The vaccine, produced under licence from American company Novavax, will likely not be launched in September as was originally planned, reported Hindustan Times.

Supply shortages continue to plague SII, even as the US lifted its ban on the export of raw materials on June 4. The ban was lifted after diplomatic intervention following a global outcry on US inaction even as India went through the worst COVID-19 surge in the world. The shortage of materials like bioreactor bags and enzymes is responsible for the production delays.

Novavax, which entered a licence agreement with SII to sell its NVX-CoV2373 protein recombinant vaccine under the name of Covovax, recently published its phase three trial data showing over 90.4 percent overall efficacy.

SII CEO Adar Poonawalla told CNBC-TV18 that the Indian trials for Covovax would be concluded by November, and the company was prepared to start selling the vaccines from September upon getting the go-ahead from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).

SII committed in its deal with Novavax to produce one billion doses of its vaccine, half of which would be given to GAVI.

But SII might fall short of its promises yet again. This is not the first time that the launch of the Covovax vaccine has been delayed. Poonawalla had said he expected to launch the vaccine in April, before changing the timeline to June. But now even the September timeline seems to be in question.

The world’s largest vaccine maker has already received legal notices from its other partner AstraZeneca, whose vaccine the manufacturer is selling under the Covishield brand. The legal notice was sent to SII for its failure to meet contractual obligations regarding vaccine supplies.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow