NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Saturday said clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax have begun in India and the company hopes to launch it by September.
In August 2020, US-based vaccine maker Novavax, Inc had announced a licence agreement with SII for the development and commercialisation of NVXCoV2373, its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, in low and middleincome countries and India.
"Covovax trials finally begin in India; the vaccine is made through a partnership with’@ Novavax’and’@SerumInstIndia. It has been tested against African and UK variants of #COVID19 and has an overall efficacy of 89%. Hope to launch by September 2021!," Poonawalla said in a tweet.
The development and commercialisation pact between Novavax and SII excludes major upper-middle and high-income countries, for which Novavax continues to retain rights. In January, Poonawalla had said SII expected to launch Covovax by June 2021.
SII is already supplying AstraZeneca/ Oxford vaccine, Covishield, in India and to other countries across the world.