India’s Serum says produced 40 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

 India’s Serum Institute has said it's made 40 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential Covid-19 vaccine. The ICMR will pursue "early availability" of the shot in India, it added.

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Latest News/Covid-19 Vaccine/Corona Virus Vaccine Update: Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer, has said it's made 40 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential Covid-19 vaccine, and can soon begin making Novavax's rival shot, as they both seek regulatory approval.

Serum on Thursday said it had enrolled 1,600 participants in India for late-stage trials of AstraZeneca's candidate, and also plans to seek regulatory approval to run late-stage trials for the Novavax vaccine.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by Oxford University , is that the most advanced in human testing in India, Serum said, adding that the company and therefore the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will pursue "early availability" of the shot in India.

Representatives for both Serum and therefore the ICMR declined to comment on whether the 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were meant for supply only in India. 

The ICMR, a federal government body, had funded the clinical trial site fees for the AstraZeneca vaccine, Serum said. The company and therefore the ICMR are currently conducting mid-stage clinical trials of the shot at 15 centres across India.

The news came as coronavirus infections in India, the world's second-worst hit country, reached 8.68 million on Thursday and therefore the death toll increased to over 128,000.

India also has at least two home-grown Covid-19 vaccine candidates in development, while local drugmaker Dr Reddy's Labs is carrying out a trial within the country for Russia's vaccine candidate.

Earlier in the week , Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said their vaccine candidate had proven over 90% effective based on initial trial results. Pfizer said it had been committed to advancing its engagement with India's government to supply its potential vaccine within the country.

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Serum Institute says reports of Covid-19 Vaccine Covishield vaccine availability in 73 days false

COVISHIELD will be commercialised only after trials are proven successful and all the requisite regulatory approvals are in place.

Serum Institue of India (SII) issued a press release on August 23, clarifying that each one claims surrounding the supply of its COVID-19 vaccine,COVISHIELD, in 73 days are false.

"Presently, the government has granted us permission to only manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use," SII said during a statement they posted on Facebook, adding that COVISHIELD are going to be commercialised only after trials are proven successful and in any case the requisite regulatory approvals are in situ .

We would like to clarify that the current media claim on COVISHIELD's availability in 73 days is misleading.

Phase-3 trials are still underway. We will officially confirm it’s availability.

Read clarification statement here - https://t.co/FvgClzcnHr#SII #COVID19 #LatestNews pic.twitter.com/mQWrqgbzO4

— SerumInstituteIndia (@SerumInstIndia) August 23, 2020

The company also took to Twitter to line the record straight:

SII also touched on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. "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 corporate said.

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