Zydus Cadila, an Indian pharmaceutical company, announced on Thursday that it has filed to the country’s drug regulator for emergency use clearance of its COVID-19 vaccine and expects to produce up to 120 million doses per year.
Although cases of the coronavirus in India have decreased since a disastrous peak in April and May, experts have warned of a third wave and emphasised that mass vaccination remains one of the strongest defences against the pandemic.
After Moderna, AstraZeneca, and partner Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute’s Sputnik V, Zydus’ vaccine, ZyCoV-D, would become the sixth vaccine approved for use in India.
ZyCoV-D was found to be safe and effective in a late-stage experiment involving more than 28,000 volunteers from around the country, including about 1,000 participants aged 12 to 18, according to Zydus.
The research was conducted “at the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 (in India), reaffirming the vaccine’s efficacy against the novel mutant strains, particularly the Delta variant,” according to a press release from Zydus.
