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AstraZeneca joins Serum Institute to supply 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine

AstraZeneca has agreed terms with Serum Institute of India to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries

June 04, 2020 / 10:53 PM IST

Britain's AstraZeneca has tied up with Serum Institute of India and two Bill Gates-backed global health organisations as it looks to deliver two billion doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine this year and next, double the previous numbers,

The company, which has already agreed to supply 400 million doses to the United States and British governments, said on June 4 it had agreed terms with Serum Institute of India, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, to supply one billion doses for low and middle-income countries.

AstraZeneca's partnership with Oxford University has garnered international attention as one of the leading coronavirus vaccine candidates, sealing more than $1 billion in US government funding last month as it ramps up testing of the vaccine and manufacturing capacity.

The management said it had also signed an agreement worth $750 million with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and GAVI vaccines alliance, both founded by Microsoft-founder Gates and his wife Melinda, to produce 300 million doses of the vaccine.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India, was quoted by IANS as saying he was delighted to partner with AstraZeneca in bringing this vaccine to India as well as low-and-middle-income countries. "Over the past 50 years, we has built significant capability in vaccine manufacturing and supply globally. We will work closely with AstraZeneca to ensure fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine in these countries," he said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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GAVI said on June 4 it had raised $567 million of a planned $2 billion from international donors for an advanced market commitment to buy future COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, including a $100 million commitment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Over 100 vaccines are currently in the race to end the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected over 6.5 million people globally.

(With inputs from Reuters and IANS)

Moneycontrol News
first published: Jun 4, 2020 10:53 pm

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