Set to provide a COVID-19 vaccine partnered with AstraZeneca/Oxford to COVAX and various governments from Brazil to South Africa, India's Serum Institute assures that a fire at one of its units under construction will not impact supplies.

Although there weren’t many large-scale partnerships as in previous years, Korean biopharma firms were involved in a broad range of deals across diverse therapeutic areas in 2020, with ADCs, oncology and domestic alliances emerging as key trends. 

Serum Institute has struck a partnership with Dynavax and Aurobindo Pharma with US-based company COVAXX for new vaccine candidates while Bharat Biotech has tied up with Ocugen to explore marketing of its existing contender, Covaxin, in the US.

J&J executive emphasizes that fast-tracked development of COVID-19 vaccines does not come with any corners cut around safety. Indian partner Biological E also outlines the complexities in manufacturing and believes that the candidates from J&J, AstraZeneca and others will be more suitable in profile and price terms to contain the pandemic globally.