Ahmedabad, Feb 2: Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila on Wednesday said that it has started supplies of its COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to the government. The pharma major also plans to make it available in the market.
ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine administered intradermally using the painless pharmajet needle-free system on day 0, day 28 and day 56.
It is a plasmid DNA vaccine which, when administered, produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response mediated by the cellular and humoral arms of the human immune system, which play a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance, claimed the company.
Zydus Cadila in its data submitted to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had said that the vaccine showed an efficacy of 66.6 percent against symptomatic COVID-19 infection. It was later granted emergency use authorisation for the age group of 12 years and above in August but had thus far not been included in India’s COVID immunisation drive.
The vaccine is now being priced at Rs 265 per dose and while the applicator is being offered at Rs 93 per dose, excluding GST.
