India Produces ZyCoV-D Vaccine, Targets 200 Million Doses Per Year

Illustration of COVID-19 vaccine/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Indian pharmaceutical company Shilpa Medicare Limited said it had agreed to produce a COVID-19 vaccine made by Cadila Healthcare Ltd, a local Indian pharmaceutical company. Named the ZyCoV-D vaccine, it is injected in a three-dose package.

Citing Antara, Saturday 25 September, the Cadila Vaccine is the world's first DNA vaccine for COVID to be approved since August from India's health agency for emergency use.

Cadila, which is expected to start supplying the vaccine in October, plans to produce 100-120 million doses of ZycoV-D a year.

Shilpa Medicare said its company unit will manufacture the vaccine ingredients, while Cadila will package, distribute and market the vaccine.

The target for the production of the ZyCoV-D vaccine from Shilpa Medicare's Karnataka facility is not yet known.

Cadila and Shilpa Medicare have not responded to a Reuters request for details on the deal.

A source in the government told Reuters last week that Cadila Healthcare in October would supply 10 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

India has set a target of being able to vaccinate all eligible adults by December.

At the same time, the country also hopes to resume vaccine exports in October-December to fulfill its commitments under the global COVAX initiative.

Shilpa Medicare also manufactures Russia's Sputnik V vaccine under an agreement with Indian pharmaceutical giant, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

Shares of Shilpa Medicare, which rose about two percent after the announcement, were last down about 0.6 percent. Cadila Healthcare's stock was unchanged.