Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine maker, is hopeful to launch Covovax by September this year, CEO Adar Poonawalla announced on Saturday. "Covovax trials finally begin in India; the vaccine is made through a partnership with Novavax and Serum Institute of India," said Adar Poonawalla.

He further said that it has been tested against African and UK variants of COVID-19 and has overall efficacy of 89 per cent. "Hope to launch by September 2021!" the CEO of the world's biggest Covid-19 vaccine maker said. Covovax is the protein-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by Novavax, headquartered in the US.

In August 2020, the two companies announced an agreement under which Novavax had given SII the licence to manufacture and supply the vaccine in low- and middle-income countries.