With the Biden administration easing some restrictions under the United States Defense Production Act (DPA), vaccine-makers like Serum Institute of India are heaving a sigh of relief.
Confident that they had enough supplies of authorised vaccines, the US administration had said: “We’re removing the DPA priority ratings for AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Sanofi. While the manufacturers will continue to make these three vaccines, this action will allow US-based companies that supply these vaccine manufacturers to make their own decisions on which orders to fulfill first.”
Reacting to the development, Serum Institute chief Adar Poonawalla tweeted that this policy change will hopefully increase the supply of raw materials globally and to India, boosting our vaccine production capacity and strengthening our united fight against this pandemic.”
Serum has alliances to make and distribute both the AZ and Novavax vaccines. And he was among the early voices to red-flag the raw materials shortage, after the US invoked the DPA that prioritised supplies to US based companies.
The top brass at World Health Organisation had also weighed in then, saying that such actions would exacerbate the shortfall in vaccine supplies globally.
Sputnik V
While the AZ vaccine is presently being administered in India, Serum is undertaking bridging trials on the Novavax vaccine and expects to complete it by September. Recently, sources also confirmed that the vaccine maker had sought regulatory approvals on the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. And given the fast-track approvals that the Centre was giving other foreign vaccine makers in India, including waiving bridging trials, the same could be extended to Serum as well, said the source.