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 (NASDAQ: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 (NYSE: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
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