Cadila Healthcare eyes nod for Covid-19 vaccine by June

By Rahul Satija,

Cadila Healthcare Ltd. plans to submit trial data for its Covid-19 vaccine by end of May and is looking for approval in June, Financial Express reported citing Sharvil Patel, managing director of Cadila.

The Phase-III clinical trials of the ZyCoV-D vaccine will be representative of its efficacy against many known variants as different ones have surfaced in this wave, Patel told Financial Express. It is by far the largest trial being done in the country right now and the company has recruited more than 28,000 volunteers, he told the newspaper.

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Cadila is also working toward getting approval to administer the vaccine to children above the age of 12 years, the report said, citing one person it didn’t identify. The Ahmedabad-based firm has tested the ZyCov-D vaccine on more than 1,500 children as part of its ongoing Phase-III trials. No other vaccine has been tested for children, according to the report.

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Once the company gets approval, Cadila plans to make up to 240 million doses per annum at its facilities at Ahmedabad and Vadodara, the report said. Initially, it plans to supply vaccines to India, and eventually, export them to other countries.