After Pfizer, Serum Institute applies for emergency use authorisation for COVID-19 vaccine
New Delhi, Dec 7: Vaccine major Serum Institute of India (SII) on Monday said it has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
Earlier, the Indian arm of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer became the first company to seek a similar approval from India's drug regulator for Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 in the country, after securing such clearance in the UK and Bahrain.
Pune-based SII has collaborated with AstraZeneca and Oxford University for manufacturing the vaccine and is conducting phase-three clinical trials of the Covishield vaccine in India.
"As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,"
Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawala said in a tweet.
He further added, "This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support".
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI.
Official sources, citing the SII application, said the firm has stated that data from four clinical studies, two in the UK and one each in Brazil and India, shows that Covishield is highly efficacious against symptomatic and most importantly against severe COVID-19 infections.
According to sources, this vaccine is logistically feasible for distribution in the country's both urban and rural parts as it can be stored at two to eight degrees celsius.
Earlier on November 29, Poonawalla in a virtual press conference had said that the company was in the process of applying in the next two weeks for an emergency use licensure for Covishield.
As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD. This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support.
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) December 7, 2020
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Neeraj Chopra wins Golden Spike meet
Ostrava (Czech Republic), Jun 24 (PTI): Indian javelin throw superstar Neeraj Chopra on Tuesday clinched the title at the Golden Spike meet in his maiden appearance here, his back-to-back win in a top-class competition.
Fresh from his Paris Diamond League win on June 20, Chopra emerged on top in a nine-man field here though with a modest effort of 85.29m in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
He had skipped the last two editions of Golden Spike -- an event that his coach Jan Zelezny won nine times in a storied career -- due to fitness issues.
The 27-year-old Chopra has had an impressive season so far, having won his first Diamond League title in two years in Paris after also breaching the elusive 90m mark during his second place finish in Doha DL in May.
