SII has already made and stockpiled more than 50 million doses of COVISHIELD and aims to ramp up production to 400 million doses by mid-2021. It has already applied for emergency use authorization of the vaccine in India.

The company could sell the vaccine at 250 rupees ($3.39) per dose to the Indian government and 1,000 rupees on the country’s private market. By comparison, the Pfizer’s supply deal with the U.S. government amounts to $39 for a two-dose course, while Moderna plans to charge between $25 and $37 per dose.

After successful human trials of two vaccines, one developed by Bharat Biotech and the other Russian Sputnik, the third vaccine — Zydus Cadilla’s vaccine ZyCov-D — would be given to a set of healthy volunteers in Kanpur.
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) earlier had shortlisted Prakhar Hospital as one of two centres for human trials.

Recently, the Gurugram-based airline said its dedicated freighter division SpiceXpress has the capability to transport sensitive drugs and vaccines in controlled temperatures ranging from (-)40°c to (+)25°c.
The strategic partnership aims to not only provide a speedy and seamless solution for COVID-19 vaccine movement and delivery, but also to create a sustainable cold chain network both domestically and internationally, SpiceJet said in a release.