Zydus Cadila DNA Covid-19 vaccine ZydCov-D likely to be launched on October 2: Report

New Delhi: In an effort to speed up Covid-19 vaccination in children, the government and Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical giant Zydus Cadila are expected to meet this week to discuss the price of ZyCoV-D, the world's first DNA vaccine against Covid-19.

According to a recent report in Economic Times, the final meeting to settle on the vaccination's pricing is expected to take place this week.

Further, sources told the daily that the price will be set during a meeting this week between industry representatives and  the National Expert Group in Vaccine Administration for Covid (NEGVAC), led by Niti Aayog member VK Paul, and health ministry officials.

Accordingly, the company was instructed to furnish cost figures. The talks are ongoing, and a decision will be made soon.

Earlier, Medical Dialogues team had reported that Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) NITI Aayog on Tuesday had released a statement saying that the discussion on the pricing of Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D is underway.

Now in continuation, sources told Economics Times that the Centre is expected to bring out the country's first vaccine licenced for children aged 12 and above on October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. ZyCoV-D will most likely be more expensive than Covishield, but it will be similar to other licenced vaccines, sources added.

In this regard, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) is likely to hold a meeting on Monday to deliberate on vaccination protocols for children with underlying medical issues, as per sources, reports ET.

Last month, Zydus Cadila received Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the needle-free 3-dose Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D for adolescents in the 12-18 age group, as well as the adult population.

ZyCoV-D is a needle-free vaccine administered using the PharmaJet, a needle-free applicator, which ensures painless intradermal vaccine delivery. With this, ZyCoV-D became the world's first and India's first indigenously developed DNA based vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered to humans, including children and adults 12 years and above.

Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response that plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance. The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.