Serum Institute of India will apply for licence to start clinical trail of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford university

On Jul 21, 2020

Pune: Pune based Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it will apply for licence from the Indian regulator to start clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University showing encouraging results.

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.

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine results out: Safe, induces immune response with mild side effects for some. 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.

Congratulations to the teams at @UniofOxford and @AstraZeneca for getting this product data, out. It all seems to be doing well. Hope to get positive results in the phase three trials in a few months. We also hope to start phase three trials in India soon. #COVID19vaccine https://t.co/Zroalob7mO
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) July 21, 2020

“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.