As scientists race against time to find a solution to the COVID-19 pandemic, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum Institute, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, says the world needs to lower its expectations for a ‘lightning fast’ solution.
Serum has partnered with US biotech firm Codagenix, its US rival Novavax and Austria’s Themis to potentially manufacture three COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
He pointed out that reports of the University of Oxford’s candidate not being able to prevent infection in monkeys is a flawed observation because it did prevent pneumonia, which is the most serious outcome of COVID.
While it was too early to comment on manufacturing tie-ups, Poonwalla said the aim would be to get doses in 100 million out in the next six months, with a lot reserved for India.
He also pointed out that news of vaccine developments by Moderna needed to be studied carefully as reports indicated very large and multiple doses were required.
For the India perspective, the fear has been that COVID-19 may begin to spread very fast in the rural parts of India, as large swathes of migrant labour return home. However, Adar believes that the spread in Rural India may not be as severe due to a much leaner spread of population and in part due to poorer access to testing.
For the next few years, however, Poonawalla says vulnerable populations must remain cautious and take all possible precautions over the next 2-3 years.