While Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is in trials among children already, Serum Institute of India will begin Novavax vaccine trials on children from July, whereas the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for adolescents in the United States; and Cadila Healthcare's ZyCoV-D has done trials on 12 year-olds and above already, reports Sohini Das.
While virologists say theoretically the vaccine that works on Delta should work on the Delta Plus variant as well, more research is needed.
'If you look at the Number 1 film in India this year across Bollywood and other regional film industries, it is Avengers: Endgame.'
Even in her 50s, the Amul Girl has far greater clout than any brand ambassador in India. And India's largest dairy organisation may soon cash in on that. Sohini Das reports.
Business executives are finally dusting off their long-unused suitcases to resume travel, thanks to a good vaccination rate, a drop in fresh cases, and an easing of travel restrictions. It comes as a huge relief for the ravaged aviation, travel and hospitality sectors. "We are witnessing a 40 per cent recovery on pre-covid volumes from our business travellers, signalling the return of corporate confidence in air travel," said Indiver Rastogi, president & group head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) & SOTC.
India's first mRNA platform-based vaccine will remain stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius while Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine needs minus 70 degrees Celsius and Moderna vaccine can remain stable for six months at minus 20 degrees Celsius, reports Sohini Das.
With the dizzying rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, India Inc has transitioned from a wait-and-watch policy to full-on emergency mode, bringing back remote and flexi work, stringent safety protocols, and allowing only essential travel. Companies - especially in metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata - that had adopted a hybrid work model during the last few months when the caseload remained low, are either switching back entirely to work-from-home (WFH), or calling skeletal staff to office on select days. Take the case of cigarettes-to-hotels major, ITC, which had been on a hybrid work model over the last few months.
The government plans to immunise 30 million people in the first phase, starting February, and by July, the target is to vaccinate 250 million people, reports Sohini Das.
Many are testing hybrid models including getting small batches to work, rotating staff every week, introducing shifts and allowing certain functions to operate from office in small numbers.
In September, Bharat Biotech aimed to supply 35 million doses, and take this up to 55 million by October. This is still less than what the Indian government expects from the company.
TAL Manufacturing Solutions expects its indigenously made affordable industrial robot, the Brabo, to boost the robotics vertical and contribute almost 40 per cent of its overall revenues in the next five years. Sohini Das reports.
Action, drama, thriller and rom-coms, this week has a lot of entertainment coming up on OTT as well as in theatres.
The Duff & Phelps report shows that Virat Kohli has increased his brand value by 40 per cent to $237.5 million in 2019 and taken a huge lead with his closest rival, Akshay Kumar, ranked second.
Workers who had gone to their hometowns and did not return for work after Diwali vacation owing to the demonetisation impact have now started trickling back to the industrial hubs in Gujarat, say Vimukt Dave & Sohini Das.
Serum Institute is investing $200 million to create capacities for the COVID-19 vaccine. Sohini Das profiles its 39-year-old CEO.
'There will be ups and downs, and we have to plan how we live with it now.'
While there is a shortage of testing kits, manpower and capacities, India does not have other scalable testing options.
The government said that "in exercise of extraordinary powers in public interest, conferred by paragraph 19 of the DPCO, 2013", the ceiling prices of 21 key formulations had been increased. These formulations include common medicines like BCG vaccines, penicillin, malaria and leprosy medicines (Dapsone), life-saving drugs like Furosemide (used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease), vitamin C, some common antibiotics, and anti-allergy medicines.
The expert committee sought more information from Serum Institute regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Each of the larger states may need less than Rs 10,000 crore each to finance the exercise.
The PM's visit would signal a strong intent towards making sure India becomes a beneficiary as vaccines become a massively traded commodity in the coming years.
The hospital, in the commercial hub of Bandra-Kurla Complex, will serve as an isolation facility for non-critical COVID-19 patients. Expected to be ready in a fortnight, the new makeshift facility can be scaled up to 5,000 beds, if needed. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will run the hospital that will have, among other things, oxygen facilities and pathological laboratories. Sohini Das reports.
The health system is trying to ensure that it isn't caught by surprise -- the way it was last time. So, hectic preparations are on.
The ICMR is working on a war footing to develop the testing ecosystem -- especially for the screening blood tests. NIV, Pune, is in the process of validating antibody-based screening kits.
Pune's Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker by volume, is placing its bets on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate AZD1222 with CEO Adar Poonawalla stating he would start manufacturing at personal risk.
'SII has started stockpiling the vaccine and now has roughly 40 million doses ready. It is using some of the capacities it had for under development products for the COVID-19 vaccine and by January we will have a capacity to make 100 million doses per month and a stockpile of 200 million doses.'
A June 11 survey by cLocalCircles across 299 districts puts overall vaccine hesitancy levels at 18 per cent, with 11 per cent of the respondents saying they were not convinced if the currently available vaccines would protect them against the new strains; and 5 per cent said they do not plan to take the vaccine at all.
What has worked though for Brand Saridon has been its single-minded focus on headaches as opposed to other analgesics that dwell on a wider set of problems, reports Sohini Das.
The antiviral drug may cost around Rs 55,000 for an 11-dose course, or Rs 5,000 per injection -- much less than the price of imports from Bangladesh, reports Sohini Das.
The first vaccine candidate will be an intra-muscular one, followed by intra-dermal and nasal ones, depending on test results.
Once touted as a 'wonder drug', HCQ has been battling global controversies around its safety and efficacy as a prophylactic against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
The testing rate is likely to slow down, report Pavan Lall and Sohini Das.
'It is going to be as high as 50% in the coming one or two months and can be about 20% to 25% in the medium term.'
Corporate leaders said a stable government at the Centre will help boost infrastructure spend, address agricultural distress, and encouraging employment.
Investment banking star and Moelis India Chief Executive Officer Manisha Girotra remembers a colleague who wanted to resign because she needed to attend to her parents' health issues in a different state. Rather than quit a promising career, she was given the flexibility of working from home on Fridays, which was unusual in the pre-pandemic days. This allowed her to take care of her parents' visits to the doctor and other health-related needs without quitting her job. She would be back in the city office on Mondays.
'He came back from the US only to work for his country.' 'He has invested his fortunes to build this company and is married to his work.' 'Rarely does one see such commitment.'
The Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board, the BJP's brainchild, has been able to create only 1,500 jobs
While the process of extracting plasma itself is simple, doctors say that it is the screening of donors, testing and filling up of numerous forms that takes time.
By 2022, there is a plan to make an mRNA-technology vaccine, for which it has tied up with Canadian firm Providence Therapeutics.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances