"It's very important we take care of our country first, then go on to COVAX after that and then other bilateral deals with countries. So I've kept it in that priority," said Poonawalla, referencing the global COVAX facility, which has been set up to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries. The company remains in discussion with the Indian government about inking a purchase agreement for the vaccine, Poonawalla said in an interview with CNBC-TV 18, adding that Serum should have quantities of it ready to sell into India's private market in the first quarter of 2021. He said the vaccine in the Indian private market would be priced at 1,000 rupees per dose ($13.50), but that governments signing large supply deals would likely buy it at lower prices. Poonawalla said the company will be able to produce 400 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine by July 2021 and scale up further from there.

Source: bd News24 November 23, 2020 15:22 UTC