AstraZeneca Follows Pfizer In Seeking India Emergency Use Approval For COVID-19 Vaccine

AstraZeneca Plc’s  AZN partner, the Serum Institute of India, applied for emergency use authorization of the former's COVID-19 vaccine candidate on Sunday, as per the Press Trust Of India.

What Happened: The SII is conducting the phase-3 clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — dubbed Covishield — in India, which is co-sponsored by the Indian Council of Medical Research, as per PTI.

The SII application reportedly referred to data from four clinical studies, two in the United Kingdom and one each in Brazil and India, to claim that the vaccine is efficacious against COVID-19.

“The benefit to risk ratio strongly supports the widespread use of Covishield,” the application stated, as per PTI.

The SII reportedly urged India’s regulators to approve the vaccine in “national interest” and touched upon the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's self-reliant advocacy and manufacturing drives in the application.

Why It Matters: The AstraZeneca EUA application came a day after Pfizer Inc PFE sought approval from Indian authorities for its COVID-19 vaccine.

One hundred million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines would be ready for distribution in India by this month with and an inoculation drive is expected to be launched in the country, the SII previously said. The Serum Institute is also producing the vaccine candidate of Novavax, Inc NVAX.

Price Action: AstraZeneca shares closed 1.82% at $53.74 on Friday.

Related Link: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Gets UK Approval For Emergency Use