Covishield manufacturer Serum Institute has reportedly planned to introduce Covovax, Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, in India by September 2021. This comes at the right time with the U.S. administration easing the regulations on vaccine raw materials supply.

As per reports, Serum Institute has received its first batch of raw materials required for producing Covovax. The Biden administration recently dropped the Defense Production Act (DFA) ratings assigned to the makers of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The restrictions had caused disturbances in the supply of important materials required for producing Covovax, which include plastic bags for material storage, nano filters, stoppers, and vials.

The vaccine was initially slated for launch in June. However, Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum, said in March that the temporary ban imposed by the U.S. on exporting crucial raw materials could restrain the production of vaccines.

The COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax has registered an efficacy of 90.4% during phase 3 trials. This brings the vaccine to the same efficacy level category as Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine, which has 91.3% efficacy, and Moderna with an efficacy of 90%. Likewise, the Russian vaccine Sputnik V has an efficacy of around 91.6%. Covovax’s efficacy rate is better than Covaxin and Covishield, which have registered efficacies of 81% and 76% respectively.

A NITI Aayog member VK Paul has apparently stated that the efficacy rate of Novavax’s vaccine candidate is optimistic. Serum Institute also intends to initiate trials for children in the near future.

For the record, Serum Institute of India is a biopharmaceuticals and biotechnology company, founded in 1966 by Cyrus Poonawalla in the city of Pune, Maharashtra. It is currently the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world with over 1.3 billion doses produced and sold worldwide. Bilthoven Biologicals BV and Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH are some subsidiaries of the company. Adar Poonawalla serves as the current President, Chairman, and CEO of Serum Institute.

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https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/another-vaccine-to-be-released-soon-serum-plans-to-launch-covovax-by-sept/story/441843.html