The Serum Institute of India (SII) expects to soon receive World Health Organisation (WHO) emergency use authorisation for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, produced for mid and low-income countries.
Reuters quoted SII chief executive Adar Poonawalla as saying at the Reuters Next conference: “The emergency use licensure from the WHO should be available and coming through in the next week or two, hopefully, because we have submitted everything.”
Poonawalla added that SII was aiming to initiate deliveries of the WHO-backed COVAX initiative by this month-end.
A single dose of the vaccine will cost $3 for low-income countries and sold to others at a ‘slightly higher’ rate.
The vaccine maker already sold 11 million doses to the Indian government, which is planning to initiate the world’s largest mass vaccination campaign on 16 January.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the rollout of the drive at a total of 3,006 session sites virtually.
In the first phase, the country intends to vaccinate around 300 million people.
Earlier this month, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Covid-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech for restricted use in emergency situations.
Meanwhile, Brazil is sending an aircraft to India to carry the first two million Covid-19 vaccine doses supplied by SII. The Brazilian government’s Fiocruz biomedical institute secured the doses.
In a separate development, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to Innovation Pharmaceuticals’ Brilacidin for the treatment of patients with Covid-19.
A Host Defense Protein (HDP) mimetic, Brilacidin has antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
by Pharmaceutical-Technology.com
Source: pharmaceutical-technology.com
Novadiscovery uses its so-called JINKO platform that runs disease models on virtual patients to support decision-making and de-risk clinical development.
The pharma is pledging $3.2 million over two years to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization in the U.S.
In collaboration with Genmab, a new anthropological postdoc project at the Department of Anthropology will now explore and help develop the company’s efforts to ensure a diverse and inclusive workplace.
