Vaccine / Will start vaccine supply in Sept, clarity on pricing in 1-2 weeks: Zydus Cadila MD

New Delhi: Cadila Healthcare (Zydus Cadila) which has received the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D the world’s first Plasmid DNA Vaccine for COVID-19, said it is planning to launch the vaccine in September.

"We are making all efforts to roll it out as quickly as possible," said Sharvil Patel, Managing Director - Zydus Cadila, speaking to the media.

On pricing - Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Zydus Cadila said the company was working with the regulatory authorities and expected clarity emerging on pricing in next one-two weeks.

"Pricing will depend on technology, delivery and volumes, and also we have a benchmark pricing," Patel said.

Patel said the company is targeting to supply four crore doses of ZyCoV-D by the end of December, and possibly five crore by the end of January. Zydus has capacity to manufacture 10-12 crore doses of ZyCoV-D annually.

"The most critical challenge for us now is, how to expand production to one crore doses at our new facility," Patel said.

Patel said Zydus was also in discussions with potential partners to scale up vaccine production in coming months.

"The company is working with partners and we have requests from overseas for transfer of technology," Patel said.

Patel said the EUA by DCGI is based on Phase-1, Phase-2 and Phase-3 interim efficacy data.

"We have not completed the full phase-3, it would take four-six months for publication of data," Patel said.

ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine which will be administered first on day zero, day 28th and then on the 56th day. ZyCoV-D will be the first COVID-19 vaccine for the adolescents in the 12-18 age group, besides the adult population.

ZyCoV-D, is a needle-free vaccine administered using The PharmaJet, a needle free applicator, which ensures painless intradermal vaccine delivery. This is for the first time that a technologically advanced vaccine has been successfully developed on the Plasmid DNA platform for human use.

Patel said the platform offered rapid plug and play technology, which could be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus including the Delta variant.