India races ahead with COVID-19 vaccine as AstraZeneca deliveries lag

• An Indian government-backed COVID-19 vaccine may be launched as early as February 2021, months earlier than originally expected (Q2 2021). Studies evaluating privately held Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN have demonstrated encouraging safety and effectiveness. Phase 3 studies should launch this month.
• India, among many other countries, is working feverishly to address the pandemic, an urgency stoked by AstraZeneca's (AZN +1.2%) delay in delivering initial shipments of its product.
• Yesterday, Britain's vaccine chief reported that it will receive only 4M doses of AZD1222 this year, well below the initial estimate of 30M doses by the end of September. AZN says it is holding back deliveries while it waits for results from pivotal trials, pushed back by a dip in U.K. infections in the summer, in order to maximize the shelf life of supplies. In a conference call, AZN CEO Pascal Soriot said, “We are a little bit late in deliveries which is why the vaccine has been kept in frozen form.” The company has inked agreements around the world to supply more than 3B doses.
• About 45 vaccine candidates are in human trials worldwide. Pfizer (PFE -0.2%)/BioNTech (BNTX +0.2%) may file for emergency use of BNT162b2 in the U.S. as soon as three weeks. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and AZN are close behind.
• Related tickers: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ +0.3%), Merck (MRK +1.5%), Sanofi (SNY -0.2%), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +1.4%), Dynavax (DVAX +1.1%), Novavax (NVAX +1.7%)
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3632254-india-races-ahead-covidminus-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-deliveries-lag