Pune: August 23, 2020. Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, Sunday clarified that the current claims in the media surrounding Covishield’s availability are completely “false” and “conjectural”. There were reports about the institute being able to commercialise the vaccine in 73 days.
“Presently, the government has granted us permission to only manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use,” SII said in an official statement.
Covishield will be commercialised once the trials are proven successful and all the requisite regulatory approvals are in place, the statement said.
The phase-3 trials for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are still underway. And only once the vaccine is proven immunogenic and efficacious, SII will confirm its availability officially, the statement added.
The Pune-based firm has struck a production-and-clinical trial agreement with AstraZeneca for the vaccine developed by Oxford University.
The firm has also tied up with GAVI, and Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to speed up the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for India and several low and middle-income countries.
