Will have clarity on price of ZyCoV-D next week, says Zydus Group MD

Supply of ZyCoV-D to start from mid-Sept, says Dr. Sharvil Patel

A day after getting emergency use authorisation from Indian drug regulator for its Covid vaccine, Zydus Group MD on Saturday said clarity on the price of ZyCoV-D will emerge next week. 

"Next week will have clarity on the price of the ZyCoV-D vaccine. The supply of vaccines will start in mid-September. We can scale up production of vaccines to 1 crore a month from October at the new production plant," said Dr. Sharvil Patel, MD, Zydus Group.

"The efficacy of our Covid-19 vaccine is over 66%, and its efficacy against the Delta variant is about 66%," added Patel. 

ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine given on day zero, day 28 and then on day 56. This vaccine is approved for adults and adolescents above the age of 12, he said. 

ZyCoV-D is the world's first DNA-based vaccine against the coronavirus, and this three-dose vaccine when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from the disease as well as viral clearance, it said.

The government's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) also said that the "plug-and-play" technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.

"Zydus Cadila has received approval for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D today i.e. 20/08/2021, the world's first and India's indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above," it said.

"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," Prime Minister Modi tweeted on Friday.

"A momentous feat indeed," he added.

Vaccines Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are being given to only those above 18 years of age and unlike ZyCoV-D, which is three-dose, these are administered in two doses.