Bengaluru: India’s drug regulator approved Zydus Cadila’s three-dose COVID-19 DNA vaccine for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above, bringing in the sixth vaccine authorised for use in the country.
The company said it plans to manufacture 100 million to 120 million doses of ZyCoV-D annually and has started to stockpile the vaccine.
The generic drugmaker, listed as Cadila Healthcare Ltd, applied for the authorisation of ZyCoV-D on July 1, based on an efficacy rate of 66.6 per cent in a late-stage trial of over 28,000 volunteers nationwide.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to credit Indian scientists for developing Zydus Cadila’s Covid-19 vaccine ZyCov-D, the second India-made vaccine to be granted emergency use approval (EUA) by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). “India is fighting COVID-19 with full vigour. The approval for world’s first DNA based ‘ZyCov-D’ vaccine of @ZydusUniverse is a testimony to the innovative zeal of India’s scientists. A momentous feat indeed,” PM Modi tweeted.
India is fighting COVID-19 with full vigour. The approval for world’s first DNA based ‘ZyCov-D’ vaccine of @ZydusUniverse is a testimony to the innovative zeal of India’s scientists. A momentous feat indeed. https://t.co/kD3t7c3Waz
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 20, 2021
