Bangalore: Is some good news to find a vaccine for coronavirus around the corner? Otherwise why would the United Kingdom (UK) government sign an agreement with Indian drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd. The Indian drugmaker will will supply millions of doses of multiple COVID-19 vaccines to the UK. Among these are the one developed by ‘AstraZeneca’ and Oxford University. This information was provided Monday by Wockhardt.
The company has reserved fill-and-finish capacity – the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes. It will be then packed for shipping. This is the agreement Wockhardt has signed with the UK government. Shares in Wockhardt jumped 10 per cent after the news in a downcast Mumbai market.
The signing of the agreement signifies that a breakthrough regarding the vaccine is on the cards very soon. Otherwise the UK government wouldn’t have jumped the gun and signed the deal with Wockhardt. It just goes to show that the world cannot wait any longer as COVID-19 infections continue to grow by the minute.
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The UK government has also reserved one fill-and-finish production line at a Wockhardt subsidiary in Wrexham, Wales. This is for its exclusive use for the next 18 months to secure supply of the vaccine within the UK.
More than 150 vaccines are being developed and tested around the world to stop the pandemic. Currently 25 of the vaccines are in various stages of in human clinical trials. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is monitoring all the developments regarding the vaccine.
Coronavirus cases globally have crossed 18 million, including more than 6,88,000 deaths.