Zydus Cadila has more orders for Covid-19 vaccine than it can make: Report

Cadila Healthcare (Zydus Cadila), the company that is currently developing its coronavirus vaccine called ZyCoV-D, claimed that it has received an overwhelming number of orders that are beyond its capacity, Moneycontrol reported.

Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare, told analysts: “We have always believed that this (DNA) platform offers the safest and efficacious way of handling such a large pandemic and we are very happy to see the strong response we are getting from different countries.”

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He added: “In terms of our opportunity size, we have orders far more than what we can make ... I have to work on prioritisation of supplies and manufacturing.”

Zydus Cadila is going to establish a manufacturing plant to produce 120 million doses of ZyCoV-D vaccine.

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Seeking collaboration

The managing director revealed that the plant will start producing the vaccine commercially by the first quarter of FY22. Additionally, Zydus Cadila is seeking collaboration with partners who can ramp up to 60-70 million doses, with a target production capacity of 200 million doses.

The company stated that it has successfully finished the Phase–1 and 2 trials. Last month, it initiated the Phase-3 trial, for which it intends to involve around 30,000 volunteers across 60 clinical trial sites.

For vaccine development, Zydus Cadila has come up with a new approach to produce the vaccine. Their vaccine consists of the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 that directs the host’s body to generate an immune response against the virus. The vaccine has to be administered in three doses.

The company believes that the novel approach can be easily replicable and scalable, requiring just Biosafety Level (BSL)-1.