SII’s Covishield approved by India: Efficacy, cost and all about AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca had signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII) to produce 1 billion doses of its experimental vaccine for low- and middle-income countries.

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India News/ Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker: A government’s expert panel has reportedly approved the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for emergency use in India to provide immunity against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). According to news agency Reuters, a subject expert committee, set up by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to vet Covid-19 vaccine proposals, recommended granting emergency use authorisation to AstraZeneca’s vaccine AZD1222, dubbed in India as Covishield.

AstraZeneca had signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India (SII) to produce 1 billion doses of its experimental vaccine for low- and middle-income countries. The Pune-based company has sought an emergency use authorisation for the Covid-19 vaccine which recently received approval from British regulators.

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Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Wednesday authorised the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for deployment across the United Kingdom on the conditions that the vaccine should be administered in two doses, with the second dose given between 4 and 12 weeks after the first.

Here’s all you need to know about the vaccine:

Efficacy: In two different dosing regimens, the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine showed the efficacy of 90 per cent and 62 per cent. In participants who received two full doses at least one month apart, vaccine efficacy was 62 per cent, and in participants who received a low dose followed by a full dose, efficacy was 90 per cent.

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Safety: The Lancet publication, a leading medical journal, has confirmed that AZD1222 was well tolerated and there were no serious safety events confirmed related to the vaccine. The safety data published is from over 20,000 participants, so far, enrolled across four clinical trials in the UK and Brazil and South Africa.

Storage: The AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at normal refrigerated conditions (2°C to 8°C) for at least six months.

Cost: Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of SII, had told Hindustan Times that Covidshield will be priced in India at Rs 500-600.

Also Read| SII’s Covishield approved by India: Efficacy, cost and all about AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine

Technology: AZD1222 is made of a weakened and modified version of adenovirus (a common cold virus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.

News Source: Hidustan Times

Covid-19 Vaccine: Serum Institute will apply for emergency authorisation in next 2 weeks

 University of Oxford and AstraZeneca on Monday said that their Covid-19 vaccine was up to 90 per cent effective in late-stage clinical trials.

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World News/Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker : The Serum Institute of India (SII) will apply for emergency license of Covid-19 vaccine within the next fortnight , said chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters through virtual press conference minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to SII’s facility in Pune on Saturday, Poonawalla said, the vaccine, post-authorization, will initially be distributed in India then to African countries.

“We are in process of applying for emergency licensing in the next two weeks. we will have to wait and see when we get the authorisation,” said Poonawalla while responding to an issue on Covishield vaccine’s distribution within the country.

“The vaccine will be distributed initially in India and then we will look at COVAX countries which are mainly in Africa. The united kingdom and European markets are being taken care of by AstraZeneca and Oxford. If they need our help for scaling up production capacity, we are always there to support them.”

The SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has signed an agreement to manufacture the vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute of Oxford University together with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca.

University of Oxford and AstraZeneca on Monday said that their Covid-19 vaccine was up to 90 per cent effective in late-stage clinical trials, raising hopes for the arrival of shots in India by the end of the year.

According to Poonawalla, the Covishiled vaccine has proved effective during trials. “What we found in Covishield during trials globally was that there was zero hospitalisation and 60 per cent reduction in sterilizing immunity.”

Poonawala said during PM Modi’s visit to the manufacturing facility at SII, various issues about pricing and logistics also as pros and cons of other vaccine candidates were discussed.

The SII is currently producing 50-60 million doses per month and plans to proportion to 100 million doses by January next year.

“We are producing 50 to 60 million doses per month and post-January, it will be scaled up to 100 million doses a month. we have built the largest pandemic-level facility in Pune and our new campus in Mandri. That was also showcased to the PM with a tour around the facility and a lot of detailed discussions,” Poonawalla further mentioned.

On signing any deal with the govt of India, Poonawalla said there has been no contract signed with centre yet.

“As of now, we don’t have anything in writing on how many doses they will purchase but as indicated by the health ministry, they would need 300-400 million doses by July 2021,” said the SII CEO.

Poonawala also claimed the Oxford drug will be transported easily at normal refrigerator temperatures, unlike a number of the other candidates which require extreme cold storage.

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