Zydus Cadila Applies For Emergency Use Of Its DNA COVID-19 Vaccine

New Delhi: Zydus Cadila has approached India’s top drug regulator for restricted emergency approval of ZyCov-D, its three-dose COVID-19 vaccine. If granted, this would be the first DNA vaccine available in the world.

Zydus Cadila expects to produce 100-120 million doses of ZyCov-D, the company said in a statement on Thursday. This would be sufficient for up to 40 million people receiving three doses of the shot, The Indian Express reported.

Efficacy

The vaccine was tested in late-stage human clinical trials involving over 28,000 participants. It has been found to have a primary efficacy of 66.6 percent so far– it was able to bring down symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in those who received the vaccine by nearly 67 percent compared with those who did not receive a jab.

The company has also been evaluating the possibility of using a two-dose regimen of ZyCov-D. Two doses were able to prompt an immune response that was just as good as the response in a three-dose regimen.

“This will further help in reducing the full course duration of vaccination while maintaining the high safety profile of the vaccine in the future,” stated the company.

However, the information provided so far suggests that the vaccine may be able to prevent even moderate symptoms of COVID if three doses are provided.

“…no moderate case of COVID-19 disease was observed in the vaccine arm post administration of the third dose, suggesting 100% efficacy for moderate disease,” Zydus Cadila stated.

Meanwhile, two doses of ZyCov-D might be able to prevent severe disease and death, as per the company’s interim analysis of its clinical trial results.

“As the first-ever plasmid DNA vaccine for human use, ZyCoV-D has proven its safety and efficacy profile in our fight against Covid-19. The vaccine, when approved, will help not only adults but also adolescents in the 12 to 18 years age group,” said Zydus Cadila managing director Dr. Sharvil Patel.

ZyCov-D is among the COVID-19 vaccine candidates that were developed in India using the support of the Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research.