Zydus Cadila is optimistic that its three-dose plasmid DNA vaccine, ZyCoV-D, will offer sustained immunity with longer antibody response. The company expects to launch the antidote “very soon”, even as it completes the advanced Phase-III clinical trials and submits data to the drug regulator for review.
The Covid-19 vaccines presently in India are two-dose vaccines, and Zydus did encounter questions on the economics and logistic complexities involved in a three-dose vaccine. The company, however, stayed the course with its three-dose vaccine, and even indicated that it would be among the most affordable ones. The vaccine will be administered without a needle, intra-dermally.
Unlike most vaccines, which use a needle to inject the vaccine into the tissue, ZyCov-D will be administered without a needle, but using intra-dermal injection that will push the substance into the dermis.
Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Zydus Cadila, said, “Currently, we are a three-dose regimen which we believe is more suitable for our vaccine and which will give a wider immune response and longer antibody response which we have seen in our data.”
Zydus is also conducting trials on a two-dose vaccine. “If the data are equally good, we will look at it,” said Patel ruling out any delay in the first project due to the trials on the two-shot vaccine.
As India’s second indigenously-developed vaccine, ZyCoV-D will be affordable, reiterates Patel.
“Currently, we are focussing on completing the Phase-III clinical trials and submitting the outcomes. We will decide the pricing of the vaccine closer to the launch,” said Patel.
In an earlier interaction with BusinessLine , Cadila Healthcare founder and pharma sector doyen, Pankaj Patel, had hinted at an affordable price for the company’s vaccine. “It is a trying time for the world. We have to ensure that we help people, more than looking at some quick bucks,” Patel had told this paper.
Ready for variants
ZyCOV-D is developed using a new technology platform that uses non-replicating and non-integrating plasmid-carrying gene of the virus SARS-CoV2. The platform, with improved vaccine stability and lower cold chain requirement, will be easy to transport to any corner of the country. It can also be modified in just a couple of weeks if the virus mutates. In January 2021, the company had received the Indian regulator’s nod to start Phase-III clinical trials for the vaccine on close to 30,000 volunteers. The vaccine was found to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials conducted in 2020.
Throughout the pandemic, Zydus has ensured access to affordable treatment options. It has priced the much-in-demand Remdesivir at ₹899 for a vial, compared to others pricing it at ₹2,450-3,000.