Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, is close to signing a supply contract with the Indian Government and is likely to fix prices at ₹ 250 ($3.39) per dose of the vaccine, according to Business Standard’s report on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The government is pinning its hopes for mass supply on Serum Institute, which lodged the first formal application for emergency-use approval of AstraZeneca’s shot on Monday.
Adar Poonawalla, the Chief Executive Officer, had earlier said the vaccine would be priced at 1,000 rupees ($13.55) per dose in India’s private market, but governments signing large supply deals would likely buy it at lower prices.
Mr. Poonawalla had mentioned Serum will first focus on supplying the vaccine to Indians before distributing it to other countries.
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
With 9.70 million COVID-19 cases recorded so far, India is second only to the United States and is accelerating its review of vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca to authorize for emergency use, a senior official said on Monday.
The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, Serum Institute and the Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comments.
No official statement has been given by the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, Serum Institute and the Indian Ministry of Health in regards the price of the vaccine as yet.
COVID Vaccine for India: Updates
The central and the state governments have been working on the manner in which the vaccines would be acquired and distributed, in terms of being vaccine ready. The relevant doses would be acquired by the governments and then will be used for mass inoculation drives, once the nod is given to the vaccine manufacturers.
So far, emergency use authorisation from Ministry of Health and ICMR has been given to the Serum Institute, Pfizer and Bharat Biotech. The government is hopeful of acquiring large numbers of doses from Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech.
Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have applied to Emergency Use Approval. PM has interacted with all vaccine manufactures and scientists. 6 vaccine candidates in clinical trial stage in India: Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/OSoWm8WyfX
— ANI (@ANI) December 8, 2020
According to reports, Central Government is in talks with Serum Institute, Pfizer and Bharat Biotech to secure adequate dosage for India.
