Govt panel recommends EUA to Zydus Cadila’s 3-dose COVID-19 vaccine

New Delhi: An expert panel of India’s central drug authority has recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Zydus Cadila’s three-dose COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D, sources said.

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) deliberated on the application given by Zydus Cadila on Thursday and recommended granting emergency use authorisation to its three-dose coronavirus vaccine.

The recommendations have been sent to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.

The Ahmedabad-based pharma major had on July 1 applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) with the DCGI for the vaccine.

The company said it has conducted the largest clinical trial for the vaccine in India in over 50 centres so far.

If approved, ZyCoV-D will be the world’s first DNA vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection, developed by an Indian company and become the sixth vaccine that has been approved for use in the country after Serum Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Russia’s Sputnik V and the US-made Moderna and Johnson and Johnson.

Plasmid DNA-based ZyCoV-D is to be administered intradermally using a needle-free injector.

Sharvil Patel, managing director, Cadila Healthcare had said that the vaccine, when approved, would help not only adults but also adolescents in the 12 to 18 years age group.