An Indian drugmaker firm, which claims that its vaccine is the first ever plasmid DNA vaccine, has applied to the Emergency Use Approval (EUA) to administer its three-dose regimen.
On Thursday, during a press statement, Indian pharmaceutical giant Zydus Cadila stated that it had conducted the largest Covid-19 vaccine trial in India to date to test the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine during the wave caused by the Delta variant. The firm said that it had applied to the Indian medical regulator with good results showing that their vaccine has been effective against the multiple strains of the virus, including the Delta variant. It also stated that it had tested its vaccine on adolescent aged 12-18, being the first to do it in the country.
The vaccine claims to be 66.6% effective at preventing ‘symptomatic RT-PCR positive’ cases in its interim analysis. The firms add, “Whereas, 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,” while affirming that no severe cases or deaths have been recorded.
Zydus added that the plasmid DNA technology is ‘ideally suited’ for defeating Covid-19 since the vaccine can be easily changed to meet up the strains and it is also the first plasmid DNA shot. The vaccine consists of the DNA sequence of the pathogen in plasmid which have been genetically engineered.
Dr Sharvil Patel, managing director of Cadila Healthcare, said, “This breakthrough marks a key milestone in scientific innovation and advancement in technology.”
The statement follows that it is a needle-free vaccine. The drug is an intradermal vaccine which can be administered using the ‘PharmaJet needle free vaccine system’. This system delivers the medicine to the subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue depths without needles, a process which is helpful since countries fight over needle and syringe supplies and some patient refused to be vaccinated since they have a fear of needles.
Zydus’s vaccine, if approved, would be the fifth vaccine approved in India and would provide Delhi with another weapon to fight the rampaging virus which rampaged the country. The firm expects to produce 120 million doses each year.
