Amid speculation that the Serum Institute of India (SII) will be ready with the Covishield vaccine within the next 73 days, the Pune-based company on Sunday clarified that these claims were misleading.
In a statement SII said that the current claims surrounding Covishield's availability in the media are 'completely false and conjectural'.
"At present, the government has granted us permission only to manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use," the firm said.
Covishield is a vaccine candidate from Oxford-AstraZeneca that is under development. SII began phase-2 trials in India last week.
The company said the vaccine will be commercialized once the trials are proven successful and all the requisite regulatory approvals are in place.
The phase-3 trials for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine are still underway. "And only once the vaccine is proven immunogenic and efficacious, will SII confirm its availability officially," it said.
A media report had claimed that the vaccine will be available in 73 days.
Meanwhile, on Saturday Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan stated, "One of our Covid-19 vaccine candidates is in the third phase of clinical trial." He added that a vaccine will developed 'by the end of this year.'
Phase-3 trials typically take 3-6 months even if expedited, industry experts say.