While the world researchers are consistently struggling to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, it is likely that the same will pass out of the doors of the Serum Institute of India.
Serum Institute, which is the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume is currently working on several candidates for the development of the Sars-CoV-2 vaccine. It is potentially going to work on producing its own as well as the mass production under the AstraZeneca/Oxford university.
The efforts into developing the vaccine are being looked over by Umesh Shaligram, who is the head of research and development in the company. He receives government messages asking on the progress and the hurdles that they have been facing during the process.
K. Vijay Raghavan, who is PM Modi’s top scientific advisor is the one who catches up with Shaligram on the day’s updates regarding the vaccine. He then reports back with the progress and even the bottlenecks that they have been experiencing.
While majority of the world rely on the Pharmaceutical companies for the process of vaccine development, India relies 60-70% of its vaccine development on Serum Institute which is then sold globally as per the demand.
Shaligram and his colleagues are working on the 150-acre campus located in Pune to develop a viable dose of the vaccine for defeating Covid-19. The push for it came around after the increase in the number of confirmed cases, both globally as well as domestically.
The political leaders currently do believe in the fact that the only way to reinstate the economy of the world is by developing a vaccine.
Adar Poonawalla, who is the Chief Executive of the Serum Institute of India said that the scientists, drugmakers and manufacturers have all come together to find a vaccine for this virus. It is a collaborative effort at this point.
What are the Vaccine Candidates?
The Indian company has partnered with U.S. biotech firm Codagenix, its U.S. rival Novavax <NVAX.O> and Austria’s Themis for the development and manufacturing of three different Covid-19 vaccines.
Another vaccine candidate that is currently in work is the one being developed by a team at the University of Oxford which has now been licensed to AstraZeneca. Serum is currently in talks with the drugmaker to potential mass produce the vaccine.
US has secured third of the first billion doses that are going to be manufactured of this vaccine termed as ChAdOx1 and now as AZD1222.
According to the reports from Poonawalla, he aiming to produce 4-5 million doses a month, which is going to begin in June and then increase the production up to 400 million doses a year.
“Hopefully we will build a stock of few million doses to give to our country and some of the other high risk areas across the globe by October-November when the trials are going to come to an end,” said Poonawalla.
If the reports are correct, each dose of the AZD1222 will likely be priced at INR 1000 or $13 USD. But, he believes that the same will be procured by the government and then administered to the people free of charge.
Serum is also working on its in-house vaccine for Covid-19 aside from all the collaborative vaccine candidates.
Possible further insights
Even if the vaccine is developed successfully for Covid-19, a treatment to fight this disease is still going to be required just as much.
Poonawalla believes that irrespective of the person getting mild or severe symptoms, depending on how the body reacts, it is likely that not all vaccine will be effective for every person.
He further said that the company has secured the vials and the chemicals that are going to be needed for the mass production of the vaccine, once the approvals are in place.
But, as per protocol, every successful vaccine has to be produced in short quantities first.
The Indian government is also prepared to cover the costs of the clinical trials required for the vaccine in the country. The government has even showcased their interests in placing an advance order for the vaccine.
“We’ve reached out and they have been very positive. But we’ve said hold on … as we don’t want to take government money until we are very confident we can deliver,” he further added.
A separate stake for the hype
Not only is Serum ramping up its hiring amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, they are also working on a separate facility that would help develop vaccines for pandemic level diseases that would help cater to 90% of the demand.
The facility is expected to be up and running in the next 2-3 years and is going to manufacture a whopping 700-800 million doses of vaccine yearly.
The CEO further reported that while he had been working on taking the company public, a few deals fell through, which is why he had to retract back.
Currently, after the rejection the first time around, he is now working with a different approach which he believes is going to unlock all the value in the end.
Poonawalla reported that he has even contacted bankers to test the waters on these visions and said that he is only likely to sell stake to ethical and long term funds or the sovereign funds which will be making a difference in the world.
“After getting them onboard, I don’t want to be in a situation where I have to charge high prices to give them returns,” he added.
