Pune: Serum Institute of India (SII) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced the completion of enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials for COVISHIELD in India. ICMR and SII have further collaborated for clinical development of COVOVAX (Novavax) developed by Novavax, USA and upscalled by SII.

COVISHIELD has been developed at the SII Pune laboratory with a master seed from Oxford University/Astra Zeneca. The promising results of the trials so far give confidence that COVISHIELD could be a realistic solution to the deadly pandemic. Based on the Phase 2/3 trial results, SII with the help of ICMR will pursue the early availability of this product for India. SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine, under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license from DCGI.

Commenting on the association, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, said, “ICMR has played a huge role in coming forward and strengthening India’s fight against COVID-19. The collaboration will further aid us in putting India at the forefront of developing an immunogenic and efficacious vaccine. The pandemic has presented a chance to foster structural reforms in building robust public healthcare infrastructure. The partnership further testifies the importance of private-public institutes coming together in scaling up the management and containing the spread of the virus.”

Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), commented, “At present, India plays a prominent role in vaccine development and manufacturing globally. Buoyed by the latest technology and well-equipped facilities, SII has continually proven its research and manufacturing prowess. The partnership is our contribution to lending our expertise and support to bolster our fight against the global pandemic.”

Meanwhile, India reported 47,905 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with death tally from the contagion reaching 1,28,121.