PM Modi’s 3-City Vaccine Tour: After Visiting Zydus, Bharat Biotech, PM Conducts Review At Serum Institute In Pune

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a three-city tour today to review the progress of Covid-19 vaccine development in India. PM Modi visited Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad – three cities where research and development of Indian vaccine candidates are being done. PM Modi first reached Ahmedabad as part of his three-city visit to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities in the city. PM visited pharma major Zydus Cadila’s plant near Ahmedabad to get information about its vaccine development.

The phase-I clinical trial of Zydus Cadilla’s vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D is over and the pharma company commenced phase-II clinical trials from August. After Ahmedabad, PM flew to Hyderabad where he visited vaccine maker Bharat Biotech’s facility. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is undergoing phase-3 trials. After spending an hour in Hyderabad, PM proceeded to Pune to visit the Serum Institute of India (SII), which has partnered with global pharma giant AstraZeneca and the Oxford University for the vaccine.

PM Modi tweeted  “at the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, was briefed about their indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. Congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far. Their team is closely working with ICMR to facilitate speedy progress.”