Coronavirus vaccine: Serum Institute ties up with Gavi, Gates Foundation for 100 million doses at $3 each

Serum Institute of India (SII) on Friday said that it has entered into a partnership with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce 100 million vaccine doses for India and other low income countries.

SII has already joined hands with Astra Zeneca and Novavax to develop their coronavirus candidates.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, via its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of US$150 million to Gavi, which will be used to support the SII to manufacture the potential vaccine candidates. Vaccines will be priced at maximum US$ 3 per dose and made available to the 92 countries included in Gavi's COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC)," SII said in a statement.

"The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO prequalification," SII also said.

India's pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce COVID-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates had recently said.

A lot of "very important things have been done" in India and its pharma industry is doing work "to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases", said the Co-Chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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