Pune, August 7: Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune announced that it has entered into a new landmark partnership with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to accelerate the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for India and low- income countries.

According to an ANI update, in another statement, Serum Institute announced that the funding would support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax. These would be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO prequalification. COVID-19 Vaccine: Serum Institute Will Make 300-400 Million Doses of 'Covishield' Ready by December 2020, Says Adar Poonawalla.

Serum Institute of India Enters into New Partnership to Accelerate Manufacture & Delivery of 100 Million Doses:

This agreement reportedly excludes major upper-middle and high-income countries, for which Novavax continues to retain rights. Recently, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave approval to Serum Institute of India, Pune to conduct Phase II+III clinical trials of Oxford University-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine (COVISHIELD) in India.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2020 02:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).