But no extra risk after second dose, shows study led and funded by drug maker, reports Sohini Das.
The Drugs Controller General of India has approved the manufacture of this Sars-CoV-2 spike protein recombinant nano-particle vaccine for 'examination, test, and analysis', reports Sohini Das.
Sources indicated that there were no fresh orders from the Government of India, and their supply commitments have ended as of March 31, reports Sohini Das.
Sources close to the development said the company had no further supply commitments to the WHO, and therefore, there was no suspension of any upcoming orders, reports Sohini Das.
With intermittent disruptions in the supply chain of raw materials from China, the Indian pharma industry has braced itself with bigger inventory. Even smaller drug makers are now carrying a month of buffer stock of key raw materials, said industry insiders. The lockdown in various Chinese provinces, including Shanghai, is likely to delay shipments by two weeks to a month, said domestic players. Shipments are critical for the Indian drug industry, which imports 70 per cent of its raw material from China.
The company had in December said that the CDSCO had approved a 12-month shelf life for Covaxin, which was nine months earlier, Sohini Das reports.
'The tie-up with Serum Institute Life Sciences brings to the table their strengths in manufacturing and also their vaccine portfolio.'
However, before the Moderna and Pfizer messenger ribonucleic acid (or mRNA) vaccines come to India via this route, the legalities around the indemnity clause will have to be settled, reports Sohini Das.
Two weeks after the vaccination programme started, about 37 per cent of the targeted 10 million healthcare professionals had received the first shot. This slow rate may prompt the government to allow vaccines in the private market sooner, to use up the doses before they expire, Sohini Das reports.
Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech's intra-nasal candidate are among the candidates who got approval from the expert panel to conduct clinical trials, Sohini Das reports.
Both are finding it difficult to sell one each of their plants -- Chennai Maraimalai Nagar (Ford) and Talegaon near Pune (GM) -- and are finding the road blocked by employee severance snarl-ups, report Sohini Das and Shine Jacob.
With around 2 million Covid vaccine doses likely to get wasted in December, leading hospital chains have now started to give it gratis to citizens. Sohini Das and Ruchika Chitravanshi report.
This will be an upfront payment for the vaccine doses that these two companies will supply to the government.
'The US has invoked the Defence Act and banned export of raw materials.' 'This is as good as banning vaccines.'
The Centre is looking to procure around 1 billion syringes between September and December to support the COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is sitting on 200 million doses of Covishield that were manufactured in December and are set to expire in September. The company is likely to destroy these vaccines if nothing works out, Sohini Das reports.
The production of Covaxin will increase from the current 10 million doses per month to 60 million-70 million by July-August.
The government may look at areas around Thonnakkal, in Thiruvananthapuram district, for the facility. If successful, this would be one of the few sites of Sputnik V owned by Russian firms outside that country. Shine Jacob and Sohini Das report.
SII would be scaling up its AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine manufacturing capacity to 200 million doses a month from 100 million a month now, reports Sohini Das.
Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare are open to importing vaccines.
Drugs that are used to treat Covid or used by people as immunity boosters have seen a jump in sales and, in turn, rankings.
In a chat with Sohini Das, GM India president and managing director Karl Slym says, with the launch of the new compact car, Beat, and a positive response to the Cruze, GM plans to cross the 100,000-unit mark this year in sales.
Government institutions and pharma industry are examining if a 'cocktail' approach to making a multi-variant Covid-19 vaccine works against multiple strains of the ever-mutating virus, reports Sohini Das.
However, Cipla was very clear it does not want to get into vaccine manufacturing.
A back of the envelope calculation shows that India has roughly over 680 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines consisting primarily of Covishield doses.
The primary objective was to get the adult vaccine as children rarely have a severe form of the disease. Once schools reopen, the demand for vaccines for children under 12 may soar.
Experts, however, feel that given the intensity of the second wave and the high single dose coverage, India is in a good position to avoid any drastic wave in the near future.
'The Centre is planning to procure five million vials of Remdesivir ahead of the third wave. What's better is that this time, the government is paying us in advance,' said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based pharma player which makes Remdesivir. Sohini Das reports.
ICMR's serological survey, whose findings will be made public next week, suggests that the rate of contagion may be a lot higher in most-affected cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune.
'The key purpose of vaccination is to prevent hospitalisation, severe disease, and death.' 'All vaccines work equally, although mild disease cannot be prevented.'
Serum Institute already has two deals of 100 million each to supply the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Novavax vaccine to Gavi-Covax at $3 per dose.
The Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated an overall 90.4 per cent efficacy in phase 3 clinical trials, reports Sohini Das
This could also be India's first vaccine for children aged 12 years and above as the company has conducted trials on the age group. The decision, however, lies with the regulator, reports Sohini Das
Providence will sell up to 30 mn doses of its mRNA vaccine to Biological E. It would also provide the necessary technology transfer to make the vaccine in India, with a minimum production capacity of 600 mn doses in 2022 and targets capacity of 1 bn doses, reports Sohini Das.
500 million doses per annum from its two sites in Hyderabad and 200 million doses each from its Ankleshwar and Kolar facilities.
Artificial shortages and brazen hawking of the drug on the streets at 15 times the normal price rule the day as the official machinery tries desperately to stamp out the parallel market, reports Sohini Das
While the Indian government has been procuring Covid-19 vaccines at low prices so far, manufacturers have to declare the prices of vaccines they would supply to the open market (industries, private hospitals, etc) and state governments before May 1. Sohini Das reports.
So far, no other vaccine has been approved globally for children below 12 years. Sohini Das reports.
83% of the CEOS plan to hire more in the new year.
While the infection has been mild in most reported cases, those below two years of age are showing signs of acute infection.
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