The British vaccine company on Wednesday said that Serum Institute of India (SII), the vaccine producer will invest 50 million pounds ($68 million) in Oxford Biomedica to help fund the development of a plant that manufactures COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Serum vaccine company is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume and Oxford Biomedica both produce AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
Serum Life Sciences Ltd, a unit of India-based SII, will pick up a 3.9% stake in Oxford Biomedica as part of the deal. The global business leaders come together to discuss on a varied range of topics covering from sustainability and the geo-political outlook to developing business trends.
The funds will be used to develop the unplanted area at its Oxbox plant into a manufacturing space expected to come online in mid-2023 said Oxford Biomedica, spun off from Oxford University in 1995.
Biomedica said, the Oxbox plant currently makes coronavirus vaccine shots, and the new space is expected to comprise a capacity to produce viral vector-based products including vaccines.
After four months of Oxford Biomedica folded its sales estimates from the AstraZeneca shot to more than 100 million pounds by 2021-end, the Serum’s investment comes in.
The deal for Serum, is the second in as many weeks, following its planned purchase of a 15% stake in Indian drugmaker Biocon’s biologics unit.
On Wednesday, the Oxford-based company said it swung to an income after its half-yearly revenue more than doubled.
