Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is a manufacturing partner of British pharma giant AstraZeneca for manufacturing the potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford.

The SII, which has been permitted for conducting advanced phases of human clinical trials of the candidate in India, has started Phases 2 and 3 trials, said the report.

AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s vaccine candidate is seen as one of the frontrunners in the race to fight the pandemic.

There are also two indigenously developed vaccine candidates, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, jointly developed with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the second is ZycovD by Zydus Cadila which are also being expected to get launched with a gap of few weeks if cleared in trials, said a report.

Zydus Cadila had stated in the review meeting that it may be able to launch the vaccine by next year.