100M Doses Of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Prepared For Inoculation Drive In India Next Month, Partner Says

A hundred million doses of AstraZeneca Plc’s AZN COVID-19 vaccine would be ready for distribution in India by December and an inoculation drive could begin the same month, Bloomberg reported Friday.

What Happened: Adar Poonawalla, CEO of  Serum Institute of India Ltd — a partner of AstraZeneca in the country — said the vaccine candidate may get emergency authorization by the time from Indian authorities provided final stage data indicates that the vaccine provides protection from COVID-19.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot reportedly said that the drugmaker is preparing for large-scale vaccinations as soon as December, once the United Kingdom issues its emergency license, which it will pass on to its Indian partner.

Serum Institute aims to have 100 million doses ready by December. The initial vaccine supply is expected to go to India, as per Bloomberg.

Why It Matters: Serum Institute has already manufactured 40 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in the past two months and has the target to manufacture Novavax, Inc’s NVAX vaccine candidate soon, reported Bloomberg. 

Poonawalla said the vaccines of both AstraZeneca and Novavax “are looking pretty good.”

The Indian executive said that AstraZeneca’s vaccine has an edge over one made by Pfizer Inc PFE as it does not need expensive cold-chain infrastructure. 

Price Action: AstraZeneca shares closed 2.03% lower at $56.84 on Thursday. 

Related Link: Pfizer Negotiates COVID-19 Vaccine Supply With Brazil For Early Next Year