Cadila Healthcare to make around 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine a month: Managing Director

Cadila Healthcare is aiming to triple the monthly production of COVID-19 vaccine candidate to as many as 30 million doses, its MD said.

Cadila is looking to increase the monthly production of its vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D to up to 30 million doses in four to five months, from 10 million now, its managing director, Sharvil Patel, said in text messages to Reuters.

Reuters reported last month Cadila was seeking emergency use authorisation for the shot from India’s regulators in May or June.

“We still think we should be able to submit (the vaccine for emergency use authorisation) in May,” Patel said.

The company will use both in-house capacity as well as third-party manufacturers to boost production, he said.

ZyCoV-D is a DNA plasmid vaccine, which uses a portion of the genetic code – DNA or RNA – in the virus to stimulate an immune response.

It is undergoing late-stage trials in nearly 30,000 adults after being found safe and immunogenic in earlier studies.

It is meant to be given in three doses but Cadila is also doing trials on a two-dose regimen, Patel has said previously.