Adar Poonawalla Meets Partners In UK, Will Return "In A Few Days"

Serum Institute of India's Covishield - developed in partnership with the Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca - is one of the three vaccines India has cleared for emergency use.

Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of world's biggest vaccine maker Serum Institute of India, tweeted last night about the "excellent meeting" with "our partners in the UK" as he faces a huge challenge to meet India's vaccine demands. He said he would be returning to the country in a few days. Had an excellent meeting with all our partners & stakeholders in the U.K. Meanwhile, pleased to state that COVISHIELD's production is in full swing in Pune. I look forward to reviewing operations upon my return in a few days. Serum Institute of India's Covishield - developed in partnership with the Oxford University and British-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca - is one of the three vaccines India has cleared for emergency use apart from Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Russia's Sputnik V. 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik V, which got clearance last month, reached India just last night. The country is breaching previous world records with an alarming daily rise in Covid cases; over 4.01 lakh cases were reported yesterday. "Had an excellent meeting with all our partners & stakeholders in the U.K. Meanwhile, pleased to state that COVISHIELD's production is in full swing in Pune. I look forward to reviewing operations upon my return in a few days (sic)," Mr Poonawalla said in a late-night tweet.