PUNE: A United States delegation led by US Mission Charge d'Affaires Patricia Lacina and US consul general in Mumbai, Mike Hankey, visited the Serum Insitute of India facility in Pune on Wednesday.
They met with the SII's chairperson and MD, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, CEO Adar Poonawalla and Stanley Erck, the CEO of Novavax.
The SII is manufacturing Novavax's Covid vaccine and nearly 3.5 million SII-made doses of the shot have already been sent to the US.
The US team also toured SII's production facility.
"I'm delighted to be in Pune and visit the Serum Institute of India, which has helped save lives around the world during the pandemic," said Lacina, adding that long-standing ties in between US and India has had a "profound impact on the lives of people across both countries and globally".
The SII's CEO Adar Poonawalla said, "The US and India have been close allies for the longest time. Together, they have created several milestones that have benefitted the citizens and the world, at large. The strong cooperation between both the countries on global vaccination and pandemic relief has been inspiring."
Novavax CEO Stanley Erck said the company's shot has been developed to fight against future variants of SARS-CoV-2 as well.