Fraudsters duped vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India (SII) of more than Rs 1 crore by sending messages in the name of its Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla and asking for transfer of money, Pune Police said on Saturday, September 10. The fraud unfolded between the afternoons of Wednesday and Thursday, said an official of Bundgarden police station. A First Information Report (FIR) for cheating and offences under the Information Technology Act has been registered against unidentified persons, said senior inspector Pratap Mankar.
Satish Deshpande, one of the directors of the SII, received WhatsApp messages from a person who posed as Adar Poonawalla, as per the FIR. The sender asked Deshpande to transfer money to certain bank accounts immediately, said the complaint filed by the finance manager of the firm. Believing that it was the CEO who had messaged, company officials transferred Rs 1,01,01,554 online, only to realize later that Poonawalla had never sent any such WhatsApp communication. Investigation was going on, said inspector Mankar.
The SII, which has a plant near Pune, produces the Covishield vaccine against coronavirus among other vaccines. Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Bharat Biotech's intranasal COVID-19 vaccine for restricted emergency use in those aged above 18 years earlier on September 6. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) completed clinical trials of the nasal vaccine with about 4,000 volunteers and no side effect or adverse reaction has been reported so far, company sources had said.
Two separate and simultaneous clinical trials were conducted to evaluate BBV154 as a primary dose (2-dose) schedule and a heterologous booster dose for subjects who have previously received 2 doses of the two commonly administered Covid vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin -- in India. Separately, the DCGI also granted permission to Bharat Biotech to conduct phase-3 clinical trial to compare the immunogenecity and safety of BBV154 (intranasal) with Covaxin. This trial has been permitted to be conducted at nine sites.