Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) on June 25 said the vaccine maker has begun the manufacturing of Novavax vaccine in Pune.
"Excited to witness the first batch of Covovax (developed by @Novavax) being manufactured this week at our facility in Pune. The vaccine has great potential to protect our future generations below the age of 18. Trials are ongoing," Poonawalla said it a tweet.
SII has partnered with US biotech company Novavax to conduct bridge trials on the jab and manufacture the vaccine not only for India, but for other lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC) through COVAX, the global alliance aimed at accelerating the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Read: COVID-19: Serum Institute yet to receive Novavax vaccine raw materials, launch likely to be delayed
SII will be distributing the vaccine under the brand name Covavax.
The Indian government has indicated that it expects 200 million doses of the Novavax vaccine to be available from August to December. The government is yet to sign any firm order with SII for supply of the vaccine.
Novovax has announced that its COVID-19 vaccine had passed the efficacy test with a score of 90.4 percent, meeting the primary target of its pivotal Phase 3 trial, offering another antidote to the coronavirus and its variants.
The protein-based vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, demonstrated 100 percent protection against moderate and severe forms of viral disease, the US-based biotechnology firm said on June 14. More importantly, the vaccine scored 93.2 percent in efficacy trials on variants of the virus.
NVX-CoV2373 has a good safety profile and requires to be stored at a temperature of 2-8 degrees Celsius, meaning it can be preserved in household refrigerators as well.
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