Serum Institute Halts Coronavirus Vaccine Trials In India

Pune: The Serum Institute of India (SII), which was conducting trials for the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Oxford University in the country, has stopped clinical trials of the vaccine.

“We are reviewing the situation and pausing India trials till @AstraZeneca restarts them,” it tweeted.

The phase 3 clinical study of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca had to be halted after a volunteer developed ‘an unexplained illness’.

On Tuesday, AstraZeneca said that it had paused late-stage trials to allow an independent committee to review safety data.

Also Read: Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Put On Hold After Volunteer Develops Unexplained Illness

The following day, SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said that this incident in the UK will have no impact on the Indian vaccine trial being carried out by the institute. “Nothing untoward has been reported during the vaccine trials in India,” he said

The institute, however, decided to halt the trials after the drug regulator issued a show-cause notice following the adverse results in the UK clinical trials.

Also Read: COVID Vaccine: Oxford Pause Won’t Impact Trials In India