The Prime Minister on Monday had virtual meetings with 3 teams working on developing & manufacturing vaccines for Covid-19. These teams were from Genova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd Pune, Biological E Ltd Hyderabad, and Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hyderabad.
The PM appreciated the efforts being taken by the scientists in these companies to come out with a vaccine solution to tackle Covid-19. The potential of various platforms for vaccine development was also discussed.
PM @narendramodi interacts with 3 teams working on developing & manufacturing #COVID19 vaccine
▶️ These teams were from Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd Pune, Biological E Ltd Hyderabad and Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hyderabad
Details: https://t.co/Ad16oOkiKp@PMOIndia pic.twitter.com/v7LjPoF7DJ
— PIB In Meghalaya (@PIBShillong) November 30, 2020
PM also asked the companies to come out with their suggestions and ideas regarding the regulatory processes and related matters.
He also suggested that they should take extra efforts to inform the general public in simple language about the vaccine and related matters such as its efficacy etc.
Matters relating to logistics, transport, cold chain, etc in respect of delivering the vaccines were also discussed.
All the vaccine candidates discussed are at different stages of trials and detailed data and results are expected early next year onwards.
The PM advised all the departments concerned to engage with the manufacturers and seek to resolve matters so that the efforts by these companies bear fruit in order to serve the needs of the country and the entire world.
This is the second such interaction that the PM will have with the teams working to develop the Covid-19 vaccine. On Saturday, the PM was in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Pune to review the development and manufacturing process of coronavirus vaccines at facilities in these cities.
He first visited the Zydus Cadila’s manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad, where he was briefed about the vaccine development process.
He then visited Bharat Biotech’s vaccine manufacturing facility at Genome Valley, located around 20 km from the Hyderabad air station.
“At the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, was briefed about their indigenous Covid-19 vaccine. Congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far. Their team is closely working with ICMR to facilitate speedy progress,” Modi tweeted after his hour-long visit there on Saturday.
At the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, was briefed about their indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. Congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far. Their team is closely working with ICMR to facilitate speedy progress. pic.twitter.com/C6kkfKQlbl
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 28, 2020
The final visit was to the Serum Institute of India (SII) at Manjari, in Pune where he interacted with the scientists and other executives, who briefed him on the vaccine’s progress.
SII is conducting the phase-three trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, while Bharat Biotech and ICMR have started the phase-three trial of the indigenously developed COVAXIN jab.
SII CEO and owner Adar Poonawalla recently announced that India will have the vaccine for vulnerable populations by January-February if it gets satisfactory trial results by November or early December.
Thank you @narendramodi for visiting @SerumInstIndia. We share your vision and continue to work towards ensuring a safe and secure India. https://t.co/FKykmenSd1
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) November 28, 2020
