Astrazeneca vaccine’s success in early human trials, will begin Astrazeneca vaccine trail in India after applying for license next week, says Serum Institute

SII, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it gets ready.

With the trials of COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University showing encouraging results, Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it will apply for licence from the Indian regulator to start clinical trials of the shot in a week's time.

SII, the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it gets ready. Earlier, Pune-based SII had said that it will start manufacturing the vaccine even before the final nod so as to be ready with sizeable volumes once the vaccine gets all permissions.

"The trials have shown promising results and we are extremely happy about it. We will be applying for the licensure trials to the Indian regulator in a week's time. As soon as they grant us permission, we will begin with the trials for the vaccine in India.”

"In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes," SII Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said. The interim results from the ongoing Phase I/II COV001 trial, led by Oxford University, showed that the vaccine was tolerated and generated robust immune responses against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in all evaluated participants, AstraZeneca said in a statement.

-TIN Bureau