Serum Institute ties up with Gates Foundation, Gavi for Covid-19 vaccine at $3 per dose

The Serum Institute of India (SII) has entered into a new landmark partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to accelerate the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for India and low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The collaboration will provide upfront capital to SII to help them increase manufacturing capacity now so that, once a vaccine, or vaccines, gains regulatory approval and WHO prequalification, doses can be produced at scale for distribution to India and LMIC as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC mechanism as early as the first half of 2021.

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The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO Prequalification. The institute has set an affordable ceiling price of US $3 per dose, a press statement said here on Friday.

The arrangement also provides an option to secure additional doses if the vaccines pillar of the ACT Accelerator sees a need for it.

"In an attempt to make our fight against Covid-19 stronger and all-embracing; SII has partnered with Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of future Covid-19 vaccines for India and low and middle-income countries in 2021,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SII.

SII shares a long history of successful partnerships with Gavi and pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines that protect against meningitis, severe diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles. This collaboration further underscores India’s proven-track record in developing safe and quality vaccines.

Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, said: “India has a proven track record of manufacturing safe and cost-effective vaccines not only for India but for the world. Over the last decade, the Government of India has encouraged innovation, and supported the Indian vaccine industry to manufacture high quality, affordable indigenous tools and products to benefit India and the world.”

Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), commented, “India has demonstrated consistent capability in delivering on low-cost and high-quality medical research, while also maintaining technical and scientific rigour.”