The world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, Serum Institute of India (SII), has asked for the central government's intervention so as to be able to import essential raw materials from the US for uninterrupted manufacturing and supply of Covid-19 vaccines.
The Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based SII, Prakash Kumar Singh wrote a letter to the Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Singh mentioned in the letter that the US government has invoked the Defence Production Act because of which the firm is facing difficulties in importing necessary products like cell culture media, raw material, single-use tubing assemblies and some speciality chemicals from the US.