Serum Institute begins manufacturing first batch of Covovax vaccine

New Delhi, Jun 25 2021:

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Friday said that SII has this week begun manufacturing the first batch of Covovax, a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Novavax Inc.

"Excited to witness the first batch of Covovax [developed by @Novavax] being manufactured this week at our facility in Pune. The vaccine has great potential to protect our future generations below the age of 18. Trials are ongoing. Well done team @seruminstindia," Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

Adar Poonawalla had in March said that the clinical trials of Covovax have begun in India and the company hopes to launch it by September this year.

In August last year, the American vaccine maker, NovavaxInc, had announced a licence agreement with SII Pune for the development and commercialisation of NVX-CoV2373, its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, in low and middle-income countries and India.

Meanwhile, SII is expected to begin clinical trials of the Novavax vaccine for children in July of this year. This will be the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to undergo a clinical trial for children in India.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has already started clinical trials of Covaxin for children 12 to 18 years of age. A total of 525 children are part of these trials being conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and Patna.The Times Of India