The world’s largest vaccine maker is ramping up production of AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 shot, aiming to have 100 million doses ready by December for an inoculation drive that could begin across India that same month.

If final-stage trial data show AstraZeneca’s candidate gives effective protection from the virus, the Serum Institute of India Ltd. -- which is partnered to produce at least one billion doses -- may get emergency authorization from New Delhi by December, said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of the family-owned firm based in the western city of Pune.

That initial amount will go to India, Poonawalla said in an interview on Thursday. Full approval early next year will allow distribution on a 50-50 basis with the South Asian nation and Covax, the World Health Organization-backed body that’s purchasing shots for poor nations. Serum, which has tied up with five developers, has so far made 40 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in the past two months and aims to start manufacturing Novavax Inc.’s contender soon.

Serum Institute Of India Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla Interview

Adar PoonawallaPhotographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

“We were a bit concerned it was a big risk,” said 39-year-old Poonawalla. But both AstraZeneca and Novavax’s shots “are looking pretty good.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-13/india-to-get-100-million-astra-shots-next-month-says-serum-head

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With a jump of 36,370 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day India reported the lowest number of new coronavirus infections in the country since mid-July, taking its tally to 79.46 lakh, government data shows. July 18 was the last time India reported less than 36,000 cases. Continuing with the downward trend in cases, India recorded an average of 55,000 daily Covid cases last week, against the weekly average of 90,000 during the peak in September, data shows. The weekly average of one-day tally has since dropped consistently and sharply, from about 80,000 in early October to 45,000 now.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/coronavirus-36-370-fresh-covid-19-cases-in-india-total-cases-at-79-46-lakh-488-deaths-in-24-hours-1-19-502-total-deaths-2316202

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India’s coronavirus infections rose by another 62,212 cases over the previous day and a local media report said on Saturday that the government had begun identifying about 300 million people who would be given the vaccine first when it is ready.

The Times of India said that frontline health and sanitation workers, police officials and elderly people with co-morbidities will get the vaccine on priority.

The plan, which is still in the draft stage, aims to cover 23% of the population in the first phase. The final plan is likely to be ready by end October-November, the report said.

The selected individuals will be given an estimated 600 million doses.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-cases/india-begins-selecting-people-for-priority-coronavirus-vaccines-idUSKBN272084

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The country reported the lowest number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in at least a month, as 59,980 new infections were reported on Monday.

India has reported 6,681,937 Covid-19 cases to date, according to the data collated by HT’s dashboard.

On Monday, 903 fresh Covid-19 deaths were reported, as the overall toll rose to 1,03,622.

India had reported the first death due to the viral infection on March 12.

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoH&FW) data showed that the country’s Covid-19 caseload has remained under one million.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-reports-lowest-number-of-fresh-daily-covid-19-cases-in-a-month/story-4mfqv4mJkxsFx2GESTTaEI.html

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A team of scientists in India has developed an inexpensive paper-based test for coronavirus that could give fast results similar to a pregnancy test. The BBC's Soutik Biswas and Krutika Pathi unpack how it works.

The test, named after a famous Indian fictional detective, is based on a gene-editing technology called Crispr. Scientists estimate that the kit - called Feluda - would return results in under an hour and cost 500 rupees (about $6.75; £5.25).

Feluda will be made by a leading Indian conglomerate, Tata, and could be the world's first paper-based Covid-19 test available in the market.

"This is a simple, precise, reliable, scalable and frugal test," Professor K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific adviser to the Indian government, told the BBC.

Researchers at the Delhi-based CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), where Feluda was developed, as well as private labs, tried out the test on samples from about 2,000 patients, including ones who had already tested positive for the coronavirus.

They found that the new test had 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity. The accuracy of a test is based on these two proportions. A test that's highly sensitive will detect almost everyone who has the disease; and a test that has high-specificity will correctly rule out almost everyone who doesn't have the disease.

The first ensures not too many false negative results; and the second not too many false positives. India's drug regulator has cleared the test for commercial use.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-54338864

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In fresh signs of a slowdown in the pandemic, India has begun to report more coronavirus recoveries each day than new patients. The trend began last Saturday and has lasted six days. This has helped India achieve its slowest weekly pace in the growth of active cases since the pandemic began: the number is now back below 1 million.

Most states reported a slower growth in active cases as well as deaths this week. 

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-records-slowest-weekly-rise-in-active-coronavirus-cases-11600933382383.html

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Codagenix Inc said on Tuesday Serum Institute of India has started manufacturing the U.S. biotech firm’s potential COVID-19 vaccine and it expects to begin early-stage human trial of the vaccine by the end of 2020 in the UK.

Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced, will develop Codagenix’s CDX-005, which is delivered intranasally rather than via an injection.

Serum Institute is working on several vaccine candidates for the novel coronavirus - including potentially mass-producing the one from AstraZeneca-Oxford University that has garnered global headlines - as well as developing its own.

More than 150 potential vaccines are being developed and tested globally, with 38 in human trials, and candidates from Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc are already in late-stage trials.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-codagenix/serum-institute-starts-manufacturing-codagenixs-potential-covid-19-vaccine-idUSKCN26D1OT

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The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday announced that phase III trials of the Oxford vaccine will begin this week in India.

It is likely that the Oxford University vaccine candidate -- Covishield -- will be the first one to move into production in India, sources have indicated to India Today TV.

The Oxford vaccine will begin phase III trials at 20 centres in India predominantly in Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra and Ahmedabad in Gujarat. In this phase, the vaccine will be administered to 1,600 people.

"Some 20 different sites and hospitals across the country have been chosen, covering five different regions that are Covid-19 hotspots. We seek to conduct trials across 11-12 hospitals in partnership with ICMR," said a spokesperson of the Serum Institute, the Indian production partner of the Oxford vaccine.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/entertainment/hollywood/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-phase-3-trials-begin-in-india-what-to-know/ar-BB186w6f?ocid=ob-tw-enin-476

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A lot of people are paying attention to every utterance from Bill Gates, America’s billionaire-cum-conscience in the coronavirus era, about the United States’s response to the pandemic. But much less attention is paid to what Gates is actually pouring his fortune into: steeling the rest of the world for the coronavirus vaccine they will need next year.

Gates on Friday said that he and his foundation would spend $150 million to distribute vaccines, if they are found, to some of the world’s poorest people. It’s one of the largest financial commitments for coronavirus response to date from Gates, the world’s second-richest person. The Gates Foundation is handing the money to the Serum Institute, the largest manufacturer of vaccines globally by volume, to produce 100 million doses that would cost at most just $3 each.

Gates has been among the foremost leaders on vaccine production over the last two decades, spending $4 billion on the global vaccine development effort known as Gavi. And for months, the billionaire has expressed profound worries that while rich countries may fare okay at surviving the coronavirus, that the pandemic will devastate poor countries that can’t afford to administer the treatment, whenever it arrives.

“We’re trying to make sure we can end it not just in the rich countries,” Gates said in an interview with Bloomberg this week, stressing that he is focusing on the vaccines in development that would be affordable in the developing world, such as those being pursued by the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax. “Those are the ones most scalable and low-cost.”

What Gates is essentially doing is deploying his bank account to set a “ceiling price” for the vaccines being developed by those two companies. Serum is preparing to manufacture those vaccines for India, where Serum is based, and up to 91 other poor or middle-income countries.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/8/21359227/bill-gates-foundation-coronavirus-vaccine-serum-astrazeneca-novavax

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The Serum Institute of India said it will partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and international vaccine alliance GAVI to manufacture and deliver 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for India and other low- and middle-income nations as early as 2021.

The institute said on Friday it will get funding to support manufacturing for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-india-vaccine/indias-serum-institute-to-partner-with-gates-foundation-to-make-covid-19-vaccine-idUSL4N2F92W5

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