Covovax trials begin in India, hope to launch it by September : Serum Institute CEO

The development and commercialisation pact between Novavax and SII excludes major upper-middle and high-income countries, for which Novavax continues to retain rights.

Published: 27th March 2021 04:29 PM  |   Last Updated: 28th March 2021 08:18 AM   |  A+A A-

A man receives Covid-19 vaccine in New Delhi on Tuesday.

A man receives Covid-19 vaccine in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo | EPS/Shekhar Yadav)

By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Saturday said clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax have begun in India and the company hopes to launch it by September.

In August 2020, US-based vaccine maker Novavax, Inc had announced a licence agreement with SII for the development and commercialisation of NVXCoV2373, its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, in low and middleincome countries and India.

"Covovax trials finally begin in India; the vaccine is made through a partnership with’@ Novavax’and’@SerumInstIndia. It has been tested against African and UK variants of #COVID19 and has an overall efficacy of 89%. Hope to launch by September 2021!," Poonawalla said in a tweet.

The development and commercialisation pact between Novavax and SII excludes major upper-middle and high-income countries, for which Novavax continues to retain rights. In January, Poonawalla had said SII expected to launch Covovax by June 2021.

SII is already supplying AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine, Covishield, in India and to other countries across the world.

Now we are on Telegram too. Follow us for updates
India Matters

Comments

Disclaimer : We respect your thoughts and views! But we need to be judicious while moderating your comments. All the comments will be moderated by the newindianexpress.com editorial. Abstain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks. Try to avoid outside hyperlinks inside the comment. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines.

The views expressed in comments published on newindianexpress.com are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of newindianexpress.com or its staff, nor do they represent the views or opinions of The New Indian Express Group, or any entity of, or affiliated with, The New Indian Express Group. newindianexpress.com reserves the right to take any or all comments down at any time.

Videos
Gallery