India is fast emerging as the most sought-after destination for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines even as hundreds of institutions around the world are hotly chasing potential vaccine candidates to stall the pandemic.
 
As the unprecedented scenario hastens the front-runners to breakneck speed, the task of the global distribution of the vaccine doses remains a formidable challenge. This has paved the way for Indian vaccine makers, which manufacture more than 60% of all vaccines sold globally, to take center stage.
 
Multiple companies have already forged deals with Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest distributor of vaccines, for manufacturing and distribution alliances for their candidate vaccines.
 
AstraZeneca has signed a licensing deal with SII to manufacture 1 billion doses of the adenovirus vector vaccine developed by Oxford researchers, which is currently undergoing phase 3 trials.
 
Similarly, Novavax reached an agreement with SII for development and commercialization of NVX CoV2373, a recombinant prefusion protein, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and India, in August.