Serum Institute in talks to raise funds for coronavirus vaccine development.
Serum Institute of India (SII), world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, is working to raise Rs 7,500 crore ($1 billion) fund for the development of coronavirus vaccine, a desperate need for the world. Pune based SII, which has also entered a contract with AstraZeneca to produce Oxford's coronavirus vaccine is into discussions with private equity firms like Blackstone, KKR, philanthropists to raise capital for the coronavirus vaccine development.
"We are in talks with a few investors but there is no comment beyond that," The Economic Times quoted SII spokesperson saying. Reports say Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Avendus will manage the fundraising process of the Serum Institute.
Recently, in a bid to make the delivery of coronavirus vaccine more feasible, Serum Institute entered into an agreement with Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, Vaccine Alliance and Gavi to accelerate the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million of coronavirus vaccine doses for India and other low-income countries.
"The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO prequalification," SII said in a statement.
