Serum Institute resumes exports of Covishield

PUNE: Serum Institute of India (SII) has resumed exports to the international vaccine sharing programme COVAX.

The first batches of its Covishield COVID-19 vaccine left the SII manufacturing facility in Pune on Friday, for distribution to low- and middle-income countries via the COVAX mechanism. SII’s supply of doses via COVAX is expected to increase substantially into Q1 2022.

The resumption of exports is linked to SII surpassing its original target to produce 1bn doses of Covishield by the end of this year. SII has reached this milestone ahead of time via rapid expansion of production capacity at its site in Pune.

To bolster its COVID-19 vaccine output even further, SII will bring into production other vaccines under licence. These include Covovax, from US-based company Novavax, which received its first Emergency Use Authorisations (EUAs) from regulators in Indonesia and the Philippines this month. Further regulatory reviews are pending for Covovax in India and with the World Health Organization, and Novavax has also submitted several additional regulatory filings for its vaccine around the world.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India said:

“We started to invest at-risk in COVID-19 vaccine production back in March 2020 and Serum Institute colleagues have worked tirelessly ever since to get these life-saving doses to people. The world has largely depended on the low-cost, high-quality pharmaceuticals and vaccines that India has traditionally exported, so we are delighted to support the global vaccination effort once more.”