Budget 2018-19

  The pledge builds on the collaboration between   Oxford University , AstraZeneca and SII, the world’s largest maker of vaccines Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) has pledged 50 million pounds ($66.2 million) to the University of Oxford for setting up a research campus that would also house the institute behind the  AstraZeneca -Oxford COVID-19 shot. The investment was made through the Indian company’s Serum Life Sciences unit, Oxford University said on Wednesday. The research building would be named after Serum’s billionaire owners, the Poonawalla family. The pledge builds on the collaboration between Oxford University, AstraZeneca and SII, the world’s largest maker of vaccines and the producer of a version of the British duo’s COVID-19 shot for low- and middle-income countries. SII has also agreed with the Jenner Institute, which was behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, to produce and develop Jenner’s R21/Matrix-M malaria shot on a large scale. Th...

  This study, published on the Lancet pre-print server, means all possible vaccination schedules involving the Oxford-AstraZeneca and  Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines  could potentially be used against Covid-19 Amid the global shortage of the Covid-19 vaccines, a study conducted by Oxford University has found out that alternating doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines generate robust immune responses against the coronavirus. According to the study, ‘mixed’ schedules of these vaccines induced high concentrations of antibodies against the SARS-CoV2 spike IgG protein when doses were administered four weeks apart. This study, published on the Lancet pre-print server, means all possible vaccination schedules involving the  Oxford-AstraZeneca  and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines could potentially be used against Covid-19. “The Com-COV study has evaluated ‘mix and match’ combinations of the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines to see to what extent these vaccines can be used in...

  Modi said over 300 mn citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 25 mn people who have received them in over 50 countries in around a month so far. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Monday that the central government will bear the expenses of vaccinating nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first round and suggested that public representatives, a reference to politicians, should not be part of this initial exercise. Interacting with state chief ministers, Modi underscored the enormity of what he described as the world’s biggest vaccination exercise, which begins from January 16, saying over 30 crore citizens will get the jabs in the next few months in India against only 2.5 crore people who have received them in over 50 countries in around a month so far. The two already approved made-in-India COVID-19 vaccines are more cost-effective than any other in the world and have been developed as per the country’s needs, he said ...

  Air India, GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet will carry the shots Over 14 tonnes of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines will be flown from Pune in ten flights on Tuesday. The government inked a contract with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses and these would be flown out of Pune in the first phase. SpiceJet will carry the first batch of doses from Pune in its 8 am Delhi flight. While the first flight will carry around 700 kilograms of vaccine, the airline is also using its freights to transport the shots to Kolkata, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, and Vijayawada. Air India will be transporting vaccines on its Pune-Ahmedabad flight on Tuesday morning, the airline’s executive director (cargo) Nirbhik Narang confirmed. “Along with Pune, we will also be transporting vaccines from Mumbai. We are fully prepared,” he added. Vaccines will also be carried on IndiGo’s flights from Pune to Chandigarh and on GoAir’s flight to Chennai and Lucknow. While Pune airport will see the bulk of t...

  Bangladesh approved procurement of 30 million doses of Covishield Covid-19 vaccine from India, co-developed by European pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University Bangladesh on Thursday approved procurement of 30 million doses of Covishield COVID-19 vaccine from India, co-developed by European pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Bangladesh drug regulator Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has authorised Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited to import and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine from India. In the initial six months of the first phase, Beximco will procure five million vaccine doses per month, reported Dhaka Tribune. “Beximco pharma can now import and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine from India. It will first supply the vaccine in meeting the government’s requirements. Then it can supply the vaccine to private hospitals approved by the government,” said DGDA Deputy Director Md Salauddin. Earlier on Monday, the government issued a...

  This could be the first country to give the regulatory green light for the British drugmaker’s vaccine as the British medicine regulator continues to examine data from the trials India is likely to approve Oxford/AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by next week after its local manufacturer submitted additional data sought by authorities, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. This could be the first country to give the regulatory green light for the British drugmaker’s vaccine as the British medicine regulator continues to examine data from the trials. India, the world’s biggest vaccine-making country, wants to start inoculating its citizens next month and is also considering emergency use authorisation applications for vaccines made by Pfizer Inc and local company Bharat Biotech. Getting  Corona vaccines  to the world’s second-most populous country with one of the highest infection rates will also be a big step in the battle a...

  Data from global trials to be submitted to the Indian regulator by the end of December     The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine candidate has shown positive results in an interim analysis of clinical trials in the UK and Brazil, with a vaccine efficacy of up to 90 per cent in different dosing regimens. Data from the global trials would be submitted to the Indian regulator by the end of December, and Serum Institute of India (SII), AstraZeneca’s manufacturing partner here, would submit the interim data from the Indian arm by then, sources said. “It is up to the Indian regulator to decide which dosage form it would approve for the Indian population. Data from all the dosage forms will be presented before the regulator,” a source said. The recruitment for the 1,600-volunteer Indian arm of the Covishield vaccine trial is over and the trial is in the last leg. The regimen, with one half dose followed by a full dose after a month, has shown 90 per cent efficacy. This would enable m...