Zydus Cadila Likely to Get Emergency Approval for its Vaccine By This Week: Report
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New Delhi : Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila is likely to get emergency use approval for its needle-free vaccine against COVID-19 this week, news agency ANI reported on Monday.The Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company had applied for an emergency use authorisation for the three-dose DNA vaccine, ZyCov-D, on July 1. It had earlier said that the company can launch the vaccine within two months of receiving the approval. Zydus claims that its vaccine is 66.6% effective against symptomatic coronavirus cases and 100% for moderate Covid-19. It also said the vaccine is safe for children between 12 and 18 years of age. However, its trial data is not peer-reviewed yet.If approved, the vaccine will be India’s second indigenous vaccine and the sixth vaccine to be authorised for use in the country. India has already approved vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca and partner Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
ZyCov-D, which is being developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research, can be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius and at 25 degrees Celsius for up to three months. Once approved, it will be an intra-dermal (between skin and muscles) vaccine administered through a specialised needle-free injector. The currently licensed coronavirus vaccines are administered intra-muscularly.
