Serum Institute to begin trials of Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine by August-end

The varsity has tied up with Serum Institute of India (SII) to manufacture and supply the vaccine to India and over 60 other countries having a combined population of 3 billion

Serum Institute of India on Tuesday said it will be starting trials of the Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca by the end of August on up to 5,000 Indian volunteers after getting the necessary nods, and launch the vaccine by June next year if all goes well.

The Pune-based company's chief executive Adar Poonawalla said the company, which is the largest vaccine maker in the world, is putting $200 million at risk by manufacturing nearly 300 million doses before the final nod to launch the vaccine in market, which is expected at best by the end