Shares of Cadila Healthcare rose as much as 4.61% during trading on Friday after the company announced the success of pre-clinical development of a vaccine for covid-19 and the receipt of Drug Controller General of India's (DCGI's) permission to initiate human clinical trials.
At 02:40 pm, Cadila Healthcare was trading at ₹365, up 0.48% from its previous close, while the benchmark index, Sensex, gained 0.30% to 35949.88.
The drug maker announced that its plasmid DNA vaccine candidate for covid-19 (ZyCoV-D), developed indigenously at its Vaccine Technology Centre in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), has successfully completed the pre-clinical phase. It has now received permission from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), headed by the DCGI, to initiate Phase I/II human clinical trials in India.
In animal studies, the vaccine was found to elicit a strong immune response in multiple animal species such as mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits. The company has already manufactured clinical GMP batches of the vaccine candidate and plans to initiate human clinical trials in July 2020 across multiple sites in India in over 1000 subjects.
With ZyCoV-D, the company has successfully established the DNA vaccine platform in the country using non-replicating and non-integrating plasmid carrying the gene of interest, making it very safe. The firm intends to now rapidly ramp up production capacities of ZyCoV-D at multiple sites and facilities to cater to Indian and global demand.
From the beginning of the year, Cadila Healthcare gained 43% against a drop of 13% in the benchmark index, Sensex.
Cadila Healthcare's consolidated net profit fell 14.8% to ₹391.90 crore for the quarter ended 31 March against ₹460.10 crore for the same quarter last year. Net Sales rose 0.21% to ₹3,627.20 crore in Q4 FY20 over ₹3,619.50 crore in Q4 FY19.
Click here to read the Mint ePaperLivemint.com is now on Telegram. Join Livemint channel in your Telegram and stay updated
