Category: Business and Management

Taking notes or making notes

Do you remember when we were kids our parents always instruct us one stuff write down all the tasks that teacher taught during class. That written down task is called Notes. During school, college, and even in professional life notes taking a very important part. Especially when we are student notes are like our life Savior before the exam. I think approx Every student faced this situation one time in life 1 Or 2days before the exam we tried to read books, but there are so many things written, we don’t have enough time to read at that time we take the help of notes. For me, notes are like searching for keywords.

1.We take note when we attending lectures, classes, or meetings, we are listening about so many topics, matter. If we write down some important points issues from the lectures it helps us to identify the key ideas, the structure of the presentations.

2.organized notes also make it easier for us to link classroom learning to textbook readings.

4. Engage our minds. Note-taking keeps our body active and involved and helps us avoid feelings of drowsiness or distraction.

Farhan, Rancho, Raju should take notes 😆😆😆😆

  1. Note-making is very important as it involves us in the learning process. And whenever we read something we have to write down important points as we cannot hold them on the mind.
  2. Making notes allows us to reduce the information into a manageable size.
  3. when we make notes we try to describe the thing with our own words, it’s helpful to think and understand the subject.

Taking notes and making notes both are equally important in the process of learning

So listen, understand, write, and grow your knowledge.

BEEFING-UP THE COMPANY’S WEBSITE

Presently is a lucky opportunity to put resources into longer-term venture channels, especially if an advertising expenditure plan can be rearranged towards that path. 

The global market is chaotic and questionable now, so outbound strategies can presumably be moved to working out inbound resources, similar to the organization blog.

For instance: 

1) Making announcements on the home webpage passing information that the business is willing to support its customers. Incorporating a connecting link to a FAQ where clients can get more data about assistance hours and delivery options. 

2) Reorganising product/services or administration pages with new illustrations and portrayals. Brief specials or discount offers could be made to maximise the orders. 

3) Setting up an internet business framework for taking on the web orders. Major web hosts have incorporated Stripe integration in their progressed facilitating packages. Local companies and small businesses can likewise opt for Shopify or Etsy, which have e-commerce facilities. Many individuals also use Paypal. Managing account there can also speeden up the growth of orders.

Businesses that have generally sold items to customers from shops/stores only  may scrutinize the intelligence of building advanced resources like an online store, accepting that they can’t contend progressively with bigger, established portals like Amazon. 

Notwithstanding, due to over-crowding in web based shopping and much-expanded social networking, individuals are currently holding up longer than even a month to receive their Amazon packages, and no one’s upbeat about it. 

In the event if people discover that an independent business is selling what they require and that they’ll receive it quicker without prolonged delays, they’ll be up for it instantly.

TAKING FIRST STEPS WITH SEO MARKETING

The pandemic has transformed the way customers approach the idea of shopping. Roughly 47%  expressed that they are staying away from shopping centers and strip malls in an online poll. 

Then again, SEO is experiencing a gradual upward trend, with certain brands announcing a noteworthy increment in their search visibiility from January-March 2020. 

Suggested steps towards creating an impactful SEO procedure during Coronoavirus pandemic are as follows: 

1) Content creation intended to fabricate trust.

 COVID prevention measures have made purchasers increasingly pessimistic. As per a Forrester report, they don’t confide in organizations to finish on guarantees. Brand messages should be created with the goal to instruct, advise, and console rather than gruffly requesting a buy. 

2) Adapting a “take-charge” attitude while dealing with the corporate web. 

It is significant for organizations to deliberately deal with their online brands. Refreshing item accessibility, keeping the Google My Business page current and keeping client information secure would all be able to put forth the picture of a reliable business.
ATTRACTING AUDIENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

An ever increasing number of individuals are managing self-isolation by going on the web to get access to recent news, look for data, and engage themselves.Hence, business social media pages can be easily promoted.

To be continued….

( Part 2/3)

ITC SPELLS TROUBLE FOR M&M

A US regulator ruled that India’s Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd infringed Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s (FCA) Jeep brand’s intellectual property rights, barring the selling of the vehicles involved.

The International Trade Commission, in a decision released late Thursday, issued a limited exclusion order prohibiting sale or import of the infringing vehicles and parts, as well as a cease and desist order to Mahindra and its North American unit. According to the the ITC, Mahindra’s Roxor off-road utility vehicle violated the “trade dress” of FCA’s Jeep Wrangler SUV.

Trade dress consists of the unique features that distinguish a product and is generally accepted by the public as having been identified with that product. FCA, for example, sees the boxy body form of the Jeep Wrangler, front grille and round headlights as distinct from the model. The order is automatically effective but the U.S. Trade Representative has 60 days for policy reasons to potentially disapprove. The ITC, which originally began its investigation in September 2018, has since last November been evaluating the original decision of an administrative law judge. The outbreak of coronavirus postponed ITC announcement.

Mahindra said in a statement on Friday that the vehicle subject to the ITC action is no longer in production and the 2020 design was refreshed.

“The company and Mahindra Automotive North America … remain resolute in its position that the Roxor does not dilute or violate Jeep’s trade dress,” Mahindra said, adding it was weighing options with respect to an appeal during the review period or in federal appeals court.

FCA said in a statement it was pleased with the decision and that the Italian-American automaker reserved further comment while it studied the ruling.

The Roxor is assembled in Auburn Hills, north of Detroit. Mahindra on Friday reported a quarterly loss and was pushing to cut costs during the outbreak.

Mahindra & Mahindra began it’s journey in 1945, with them getting into the steel business first, and then over time, expanded to 22 key industries. As need for change was felt in the agricultural practices

M &M entered into that sector right before the agriculture revolution began in India. We became one of the key torch-bearers of the IT revolution in our country.They focus mostly lies in developing alternate energy sources because they have propagated a lot towards energy-conservation believe energy conservation will play a huge role in ensuring a better future – for not just our country and communities, but the entire world.

One of the more important sector that they are involved in is Agriculture.They are known to empower farmers with the most relevant technology and agricultural know-how, and link them to the market, so as to maximize their returns and to ensure they get better returns. Their agricultural inputs, advisory services, and output procurement businesses all aim to deliver continued Farm Prosperity, while their Farm-to-Fork model ensures stringent quality checks throughout the supply chain.They have also been known to partake in many charities as well as is considered to be one of the few multi-national companies in the world to have actively taken steps towards prevention of environmental degradation.

Source: https://in.reuters.com/article/fiat-chrysler-mahindra-complaint/u-s-regulator-sides-with-fca-in-jeep-trade-case-against-mahindra-idINKBN23J2E8

Is Digital Marketing The New Approach Companies Need To Adopt During The Times Of Covid 19?

Some issues tend to just disappear if they don’t receive our attention for a longer period of time. However, the coronavirus pandemic is a mammoth issue for the companies all over the world. It is becoming extremely troublesome to just let go of the problem for it is hugely influencing the way business is being carried out globally.

Furthermore, a lot of businessmen, managers and directors are finding it difficult to bring about a change in their marketing strategies so as to get used to this short-term “new normal”.

The possible reasons could be that they maybe still not convinced to adapt to this sense of normalcy with so much going around and them facing their own issues but whatever the reason, this is only going to lead to much bigger problems and could even result in the downfall of their respective companies.

Moreover, handshakes are being replaced by the new norms of digital marketing and remote work forces during the signing of the business deals amongst a handful of other organisations.

These dynamic companies are not only accepting the Covid-19 world with open arms but are also ramparting the need of the hour, the recession resiliency.

HOW HAVE THE BUSINESSES BEEN IMPACTED?

Despite the fact that somehow, every business has been able to keep itself intact amidst the current situation, it hasn’t been any easier for the small startups due to the lack of capital or reserves to sustain their existence especially those which were massively dependent on physical interactions like beauty salons, fashion boutiques, Health Care Centres for yoga etc.

Since these startups were habituated to getting constant customer reviews and then stimulating their growth, they are now afflicted by colossal losses to such an extent that their spontaneous takeaway on this entire situation has been to minimise the product marketing expenditure which should have otherwise been to explore much innovative methods.

All the types of businesses irrespective of their magnitude of growth can easily extract benefits out of digital marketing. The only thing that needs to be done is to bring about a small change in the route of reaching their customers i.e by making business accounts on social media to ensure the prolonged survival of their businesses.

Because customers are in immediate need of all sorts of products but they cannot step out of their homes so the only way to flourish is by doing business digitally.

THE FIRST STEPS TO CARRYING OUT A BUSINESS ONLINE

In the pre Covid era, every customer was well aware of the the “best” that every local business had to offer. Now as we take the present situation into consideration, some of these local businesses have been shutdown after being categorised as “non essential”. Also, the customers are not informed that whether or not they can still continue to buy products from their local favorites as there is a huge question mark on them being still in business.

So now this is the time that these affected startups and local businesses grab most of the opportunity and make this bold decision to step out from the confining walls of their stores and expose themselves to new horizons by establishing their accounts on social media and connecting with customers all over.

 CONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Given below are enlisted three steps which are crucial in springing up that link between the buyer and the seller and keeping the momentum going to ensure the business continuity and also building strong connections by adhering to the technological aspects of the process.

1) The first email: If the delivery of products like milk, groceries etc has been affected by Covid 19, the business should make an effort to inform its customers via Email or WhatsApp briefing about the new changes. 

2) ‎Updating about post-corona functioning on existing platforms: Businesses who already own emails or other digital communication facilities should inform their customers about the new methoods of operation.

3) ‎ Making announcements: Lastly, a public post on social media needs to be made regarding the resuming of online orders while also briefing about how their business is responding to the pandemic.

P.S~ This is a highly detailed research report that I have done on this topic and hence this is just PART 1 of it so that it doesn’t become too lengthy or monotonous.
Next part would be published soon.

Reference article for deeper insights: https://napoleoncat.com/blog/digital-marketing-during-covid-19/
 

luxury food industry amasses heavy losses due to the virus

Global demand for luxury foods such as wagyu beef, bluefin tuna and caviar has plummeted into decline in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, with thousands of restaurants shuttered.

The luxury food industry may be among the hardest affected because it depends heavily on restaurants and top hotels for ordering deluxe goods from caviar to champagne, because tight shutdown efforts to curb the epidemic ravage global economic activity. While some gourmet food manufacturers are specifically targeting customers to remain alive, some have been compelled to slash production since some goods have lost nearly half their value since the beginning of the year.

Jean-Marie Barillere, co-chairman of champagne producers’ lobby CIVC in France, said he hoped people would celebrate the easing of lockdown with a bottle of champagne, but expected a difficult end to the year. “This is really a period that looks like a war time,” he said.

Bookings data compiled by OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service, showed this year a decline of nearly 80 percent year-on-year in seated restaurants in the United States, UK , Germany, Canada , Australia, Ireland and Mexico. Restaurants is among the world’s hardest-hit industries

“People will not want to taste a Chateau Petrus wine, a lobster or caviar under a bell jar,” said Michel Berthommier, managing director of Caviar Perlita in southwestern France. “If you force people to eat in these conditions they will prefer going to fast foods.”

Premium foods was “one of the worst hit sectors worldwide”, said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. He said he did not expect a prompt recovery given many countries were in recession. Falling demand has already taken a toll on the prices of luxury items.

In Tokyo, the price of top-quality wagyu beef cuts fell around 30% from a year ago, bluefin tuna – deemed the best in Japan – fell more than 40% during that period, while Shizuoka’s popular ‘Earl’s melons’ prices dropped 30%. Russia’s largest breeding sturgeon business-Russian Caviar Shop-meanwhile gave Beluga hybrid caviar a 30 per cent discount.

“Spring and summer are always low seasons for the caviar market, but if we compare this period with previous years, the sales in Russia are down 50%,” said the firm’s owner Alexander Novikov.

In France, caviar prices languished near historic lows, champagne sales tumbled, while foie gras producers have had to cut output to prop up prices. Cifog, a foie gras producers’ group, said restaurants account for 40% of total foie gras sales. “Mid-March it felt like the sky had fallen on us,” said Florian Boucherie, who produces 2 tonnes of foie gras per year in France.

To plug the yawning gap left by eateries, many high-end food producers are attempting to reach consumers directly via e-commerce platforms. Others are steering more produce onto supermarket shelves. “We are accelerating our supply of products into some of the world’s largest supermarkets, gourmet butchers and direct to consumers online,” said Hugh Killen, chief executive of Australia’s largest listed beef producer, Australian Agricultural Company.

In Japan, top sushi chefs pay 400,000 yen ($3,737.97) for 10kg of the best cuts of tuna compared to the 25,000 yen paid by supermarkets for 10kg of lower value cuts, said Yukitaka Yamaguchi, owner of Yamayuki tuna brokerage at Toyosu Market in Tokyo. He said “the best part of (the) tuna” was usually sold first to high-end sushi restaurants but when these closed the “harakami had nowhere to go.” They eventually started offering high-quality tuna to fish retailers and supermarkets. For now, Yamaguchi has had to park plans to retire as he has accumulated debt during the pandemic. “I had planned to retire when I turn 60, but that’s no longer possible,” he said.

Source:https://in.reuters.com/article/health-corononavirus-food-premium/luxury-food-industry-turns-sour-amid-global-coronavirus-lockdowns-idINKBN23J0SR

Spike in household savings expected due to covid-19

Due to forced slowdown in COVID-related consumption household savings are expected to spike in Q1’20-21. This will come in handy to finance the economy’s recovery, an RBI research paper said as it is the Indian economy’s most reliable and self-reliant source of capital.

In this time of layoffs and the economy is absolute turmoil, this research comes as a beacon of hope.In India, as compared t other countries saving has been considered very important, especially by middle-class families.Due to our mindset and traditional values saving has always been preferred over spending . In fact consumerism came very late to India in comparison with other countries that achieved independence from colonial powers around the same time that we did.A lot can be attributed to the fact that the standard of living in our country had been stagnant for a very long period of time.

Only in the last decade or two, the standard of living of masses have some how increased, this can be mainly attributed to increase in the country’s overall literacy rate, for both men as well as women and also rapid infrastructural development that we have witnessed since the turn of the century.One of the many policies of this government that played a major role in this would be the 1990 Economic Policies, this particular policy has drastically changed the prevalent economic structure of the country.One of the important implementations of the policy was the opening up of the country’s economy and integrating ourselves with the world economy.This created a healthy competition in the economy which motivated Indian firms to increase the quality of their product to be at par international standards

A spike in households’ net financial assets is likely due to a sharp drop in lockdown-induced consumption in the first quarter of 2020–21. According to the paper written by Anupam Prakash, Anand Prakash Ekka, Kunal Priyadarshi, Chaitali Bhowmick and Ishu Thakur of the RBI Department of Economic and Policy Research, several studies show that households tend to save more during a slowdown and income uncertainty.

After the nationwide lock-down to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, economists forecast an ever worse contraction of the Indian economy during FY’21. The paper also warns that lags in the pickup of economic activity may cause households’ financial surplus in subsequent quarters to taper off. With construction activity at a standstill, households are likely to move from physical assets such as residential property to financial assets such as deposits, currency, and mutual funds, and are more useful in financing businesses and the growth of the economy. At Rs 15.6 lakh crore, India’s net financial savings rose to 7.7 per cent in FY’20 as of March 2020 from 7.2 per cent in FY’19.

For the Indian economy, the report notes, the household sector is the most sustainable and self-reliant source of finance. In the light of the policy initiative gathering critical mass to lift the Indian economy from the vice-like grip of a recession and, more recently, the life-threatening COVID-19 pandemic, it said, its position is likely to become crucial.

The Indian households hold financial assets or financial savings in currency, bank deposits, debt securities, mutual funds, insurance , pension funds and small savings. Currency and bank deposits accounted for 66 per cent of overall financial assets, led by pension companies and mutual funds contributing 30.2 per cent respectively. Such in-turns are strong sources of company financing.

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/covid-related-consumption-crunch-may-spike-q1-household-savings/articleshow/76322161.cms

Creative E-MAIL WRITING: 5 Sample drafts for cart abandonment mails.



● IS YOUR INTERNET CONNECTIVITY ALRIGHT?
We got a bit concerned when you were browsing through this amazing xyz product and chose to just leave it there in the cart itself. Given the stupefying list of its features, you wouldn’t surely want to miss out on bringing this home. No we aren’t exaggerating but working towards your best interest. Check out some reviews here and decide for yourself. Thankyou and Good Luck shopping.

● DID YOU JUST LEAVE YOUR SHOPPING CART AT THE STORE?
Oops! Seems like you spent decent hours browsing through the right products, discussing their specifications and prices and then finally shortlisting it, you added them to the cart. But you haven’t made the purchases yet, all of your items are waiting to be delivered to you. Go, proceed with the payments and say yes to a new, more lavish lifestyle.
Thankyou and Good Luck Shopping.

● YOU WERE SO CLOSE!
Yes, you heard it right! You were SO close to trying the amazing goodies and services available at the xyz shopping platform. You would surely not want to miss out on the products that you shortlisted yourself. So here we are again, sliding into your emails to remind you about making your purchases and bringing the items home that have overstayed in your cart. Check out some customer reviews which might tempt you to place the order. Here’s to effective and affordable shopping.

● WE MISS YOU! GET US HOME SOON!
Well yes, that’s the *cries* of the abandoned superbly functional items that you shortlisted yourself while browsing through the xyz website. Seems like you liked them but somehow weren’t still convinced to bring them home yet. Here, check out some reviews which might trigger a change of mind. Thankyou and Good Luck Shopping.

● YOUR CART MIGHT JUST OVERFLOW!
Hi! A friendly reminder that your shopping cart is full right now and needs to be emptied before you can continue shopping again at your most favourite shopping portal. So don’t waste any more time, h ead straight to the xyz website, make the payments and go grab your favourite products. Thankyou and Good Luck Shopping.

EXECUTING SUCCESSFUL BUDGET-FRIENDLY COLLABORATIONS WITH CELEBRITIES.‎ How to do and Why is it required?


‎
For a large-scale promotion of the campaign, say a physical activity driven campaign which would emphasise  the benefits of regular exercising & staying fit and is less about preaching the nutritional value of particular foods. I reckon that we should use TV and Social Media preferably Instagram or Facebook. Nextly, we need to lookout for affordable and successful collaborations with a trending or in-buzz celebrity. The contact details including the email id and phone numbers of their managers are rightly mentioned in their Instagram bios and Facebook official pages. We can shortlist a few celebrities and then finalize one or two of them as per the budget. We can create illustrative posters, banners and post it on our social media handle under the brand name “play to slay the calories”,  “stay fit to be hit” etc.
Once we have officially communicated our needs to the celebrity, we can ask the him to repost our posters on his account and encourage his audience to engage in physical activities. We need to hand over short scripts enlisting the agenda of our mission to him and ask him to make videos to be uploaded on Instagram story campaigning for our brand and helping it grow eventually. I am sure the active followers upon his advice would record the videos of them exercising or playing an indoor/outdoor sport along with all the members of the family which includes both the young and the older generation and when they would put up those videos on the social media then the the celebrities should be asked to repost the best entries on his page. We are well aware of the fact that whatever a celebrity does tends to attract a lot of media attention so automatically the videos would reach other platforms like TV news and articles by leading media portals i.e Pinkvilla. When people would see others gaining overnight fame and becoming a sensation just because a celebrity posted their exercising or playing video on their page then people would get enticed and also motivated to be promoted on the official page of celebrities like Asim Riaz of Bigg Boss 13 who was trending almost everyday on Twitter. I witnessed people going mad for him. They even overcrowded a mall in Mumbai because of a rumour that he was going to visit as a part of a big boss task.
‎As per the budget we can also go for a young sporting athlete preferably from the Indian cricket team or any IPL franchise because if sportspersons promote fitness then the whole idea is accepted more widely and they have a larger fan base, not confined to any particular age group. Meanwhile on our social media handle, We will keep posting stats like 1 out of 3 people haven’t done any physical activity in the last year to appeal to their emotional conscience. And you never know, people might actually feel motivated to step out. We can use catchy captions like being active on social media isn’t being truly active. We will also keep posting regular videos i.e yoga tutorials or in other ways that would tempt them to make videos by going out and playing so as to get featured on a celebrity page. This way without the expenditure of much money or resources our job would also be done, people would exercise as well, our campaign would also get promoted and our brand name would also grow by utilising the fame of a particular celebrity.
‎The reason this idea popped up in my head was because I checkout Alia Bhatt’s Instagram stories of June 5 where she asked people to upload a selfie with plants on the occasion of World Environment Day and within 4 hours social media flooded with so many of them because 7-8 lucky peoples’ stories got mentioned in Alia Bhatt’s stories. Liked the idea?

3 months given to unlisted bond issuers in debt funds to list by sebi

India’s Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) has issued unlisted non-convertible debentures (NCDs), where mutual funds are mostly the investors, a three-month one-time window for listing has been allocated to such schemes.

A letter was sent to asset management companies late Tuesday, acoording to SEBI, stating that , starting June 15, a window would be made available to issuers who have outstanding unlisted NCDs as of March 31 without having to comply to the requirement and the guidelines on the electronic bidding platform. Mutual funds are however required to keep issuers informed of this window.

According to a copy of the letter with LiveMint , the letter stated “This is another step towards ensuring that debt mutual fund schemes hold only 10% in unlisted debt. Mutual funds have time till end of December to comply with the norms. The existing unlisted remains grandfathered. The listing would entail higher compliance and disclosures.”

The schemes had to meet the investment limits for non-listed non-convertible debentures (NCDs) at 15 percent and 10 percent of the debt portfolio by 31 March and 30 June respectively. These dates were subsequently extended to 30 September and 31 December respectively due to COVID-19 related disruptions. This additional move is to have liquidity for certain papers that are not listed. Exchanges require for the listing of fresh NCDs and not current unlisted ones, said asset management company’s CEO.

“In addition, it permitted mutual funds to grandfather the existing investments in unlisted debt instruments till maturity of such instruments, so as to not disrupt the market,” said Sebi.

According to Sebi communication, if issuers of non-listed NCDs take advantage of the opportunity of one-time listing and submit their application for listing but unduly delay in getting their NCDs listed, they would be required to pay additional 1 percent coupon to investors. On Wednesday the Asset Management Companies (AMCs) were advised by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) that they would take full advantage of the opportunity and act immediately.

“There are about 121 companies which haven’t listed their debs. Franklin Templeton is the largest owner of unlisted debts among mutual fund houses. We will request all of invester companies to list their debts,” said the CEO of a large fund house, anonymously.

MF industry holds about 41,500 crore of non-listed NCDs in all schemes, excluding liquid schemes as of March 31. The six debt schemes that are under the winding-up process hold a large chunk of these unlisted debts. Many of these NCDs are issued and used to be considered liquid investments by marquee issuers. Those have been illiquid in the new covid-19 scenario due to market uncertainty, raising problems for the mutual funds.

“Further, some of the same issuers’ listed NCDs issued after 1 October trade regularly, but the unlisted NCD of the same issuer with the same rating and potentially a shorter maturity has become completely liquid. This has been adversely impacting the performance of various mutual fund schemes investing in debt instruments,” said an AMFI member.

“While Sebi has facilitated listing of unlisted NCDs many marquee issuers such as Tata Sons are unwilling to list their bonds. Perhaps they would make up the 10% of the unlisted debt still allowed,” said an official of a fund house.

Source:https://www.livemint.com/news/india/sebi-gives-3-months-to-unlisted-bond-issuers-in-debt-funds-to-list-11591790405023.html

world’s largest vaccine manufacturer invests usd 100 million to develop potential Covid-19 vaccine

According to a company official of , the world’s largest producer of vaccines, the Serum Institute of India , is planning to invest USD 100 million on a potential vaccine for COVID-19,  being developed at Oxford University. The organization established in Pune, has collaborated with AstraZeneca, a British bio-pharmaceutical corporation mammoth, to ensure a stable supply to India and other low- and middle-income countries of the AZD1222 vaccines.

“Our manufacturing facility is ready and we plan to start production in two months. We are spending more than USD 100 million for this facility. Till the trials are completed successfully for safety and efficacy, vaccines will not be distributed either in India or anywhere else in the world,” Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India (SII), said.

With high hopes the company is planning to mass produce up to a million units, and is planning to stockpile the same at personal risk. According to the company when it comes to determine how many units India is likely to get in the first phase, they commented that it might be too early too comment. “However, if the vaccine trials succeed, India will gain access to the doses as it will also be the requirement of the Government of India. And we are certain that everybody will respect if the substantial volumes go to India,” he added.

According to their website, Serum Institute of India was founded in 1966 by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla with the aim of manufacturing life-saving immuno-biologicals, which were in shortage in the country and imported at high prices. Thereafter, several life-saving biologicals were manufactured at prices affordable, and now is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines. It is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. Vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in around 170 countries across the globe in their national immunization programs, saving millions of lives throughout the world.

Serum Institute of India is ranked as India’s No. 1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized life saving biologicals like vaccines using cutting edge genetic and cell based technologies, antisera and other medical specialties.

Serum Institute of India also has plans and is working on developing a vaccine with USA based firm Codagenix, Poonawalla recently said that at present, the firm is undergoing pre-clinical trials (animal trial phase) and hope to progress to the human trial phase by September/October.

“The aim is to make the vaccine over the next 1.5-2 years to help combat the novel corona-virus. With the combined efforts of our partner Codagenix, we are optimistic that we will be able to provide a viable and effective vaccine for mass use,” Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer, Serum Institute of India (SII), said.

SII along with Oxford and Codagenix is also working with an Austria-based firm, Themis and two other promising candidates to develop an effective and affordable vaccine for COVID-19.At least half a dozen attempts to build a coronavirus vaccine are underway worldwide but the ones in Oxford are considered one of the most assuring and promising ones.   A vaccine will be a much needed intervention that can bring the loss of lives caused by the infections, to a complete halt.

Source:https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/pharmaceuticals/serum-institute-investing-usd-100-million-on-potential-covid-19-vaccine/articleshow/76288408