The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII), which is working in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to find a vaccine for Covid-19, on Wednesday announced that it has completed the enrolment of phase 3 clinical trials for its candidate Covishield.
SII and ICMR are currently conducting phase 2/3 clinical trials of Covishield at 15 different centres across the country, the Pune-based drugmaker said in a statement. As many as 1600 participants were enrolled on October 31, it added.
“The strategic alliance between SII and the ICMR will advance India’s role in the global race to develop Covid-19 vaccines,” the drug manufacturer said in a statement.
The SII said that the trials of the Oxford vaccine have shown promising results, which “so far give confidence that Covishield could be a realistic solution to the deadly pandemic”.
Among the vaccines being developed in India, Covishield is in the most advanced stage of human testing. Based on the phase 2/3 trial results, SII with the help of ICMR will pursue the early availability of this product for India, the company said, adding that it has already manufactured 40 million doses under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license from DCGI.
Apart from Covishield, developed at the Pune laboratory with a master seed from Oxford University/AstraZeneca, ICMR and SII have also collaborated for clinical development of Covovax developed by US-based Novavax.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India said the pandemic has presented a chance to foster structural reforms in building robust public healthcare infrastructure and added, “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.”
ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava pointed towards the role India plays 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,” he added.
