Serum Institute of India to develop vaccine for coronavirus in six months

PUNE: Serum Institute of India (SII) has partnered with US Biotechnology firm Codagenix to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) within the next six months.

The institute recently announced that the vaccine has progressed to the preclinical tests phase i.e. the animal trial phase.

Speaking about the development, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said that the institute hopes to be ready with the vaccine very early.

“The vaccine candidate has been developed using a laboratory-made synthetic virus, which was an important breakthrough as it will significantly reduce the time taken to build a shield against the virus. Our vaccine-virus strain is identical to the original virus and can generate a robust immune response,” he said.

The vaccine-virus strain will be the fastest ‘Made in India’ vaccine to progress to the human trials phase within six months. 

The cost of the project is up to Rs 300 crore and SII aims to secure external funding for the project via various global partners.

“We are in talks with a number of firms across the globe for potential partnerships. We are also not excluding China as a potential site for our clinical trials. By August-end, we will have data on mice and primates to submit to regulatory authorities to enter into the human trials phase,” Poonawala added.

TOTAL CASES IN THE STATE
- The institute recently announced that the vaccine has progressed to the preclinical tests phase i.e. the animal trial phase.
- State Health Department officials have stated that from January 18, 71 symptomatic travellers have been isolated in identified isolation facilities. 
- “Till date, 70 samples sent by the State have been found negative as per the reports of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. At present, two travellers are still in the hospital, both in Mumbai,” the officials stated. As of Wednesday, the state has 39 isolation wards and 361 beds.