For Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla, the happy new year moment came on January 3 after the Drug Controller General of India on Sunday gave the final nod to Covishield, the vaccine developed by Oxford University and pharma major Astrazeneca and manufactured in India by Poonawalla’s Serum Institute. It has got the nod for restricted emergency use in India, after the subject expert committee went throught its data and recommended the vaccine for emergency use.
“Happy new year, everyone! All the risks @SerumInstIndia took with stockpiling the vaccine, have finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India’s first COVID-19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll-out in the coming weeks,” Adar tweeted, thanking PM Modi, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and all other stakeholders including ICMR, DBT, DCGI, Gavi, Gates Foundation etc.
Even before getting the approval from the apex drug controller of India, Serum Institute of India stockpiled about 40-50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which involved a major risk in case its application got turned down by the drug regulator. The largest vaccine maker of the world, by the volume it produces, has alose set a target of producing around 300 million doses of Covishield by July 2021.
Overall, Serum’s investment on Covishield is around $100 million.
By Hindustan Times
WhatsApp us