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Cadila Healthcare (Zydus Cadila), which is developing COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D, said it has far more orders from various countries for the jabs than the capacity it has committed.

"We have always believed that this (DNA) platform offers the most safe and efficacious way of handling such a large pandemic and we are very happy to see the strong response we are getting from different countries," Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Cadila Healthcare, told analysts.

"In terms of our opportunity size, we have orders far more than what we can make ... I have to work on prioritisation of supplies and manufacturing," Patel said.

Patel added that while many countries are ready to accept Phase 2 data and approve marketing authorisation, in some countries local clinical trials would be conducted if necessary.

Zydus Cadila is setting up a manufacturing plant to produce 120 million doses of ZyCoV-D vaccine. Patel said the plant is expected to be ready for commercial production by the first quarter of FY22. In addition, the company is also looking at possible tie-ups with partners to add another 60-70 million doses, with a target production capacity of 200 million doses.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Zydus Cadila says it has more orders for COVID-19 vaccine than it can make

The company has completed Phase–1 and 2 trials, and began work on its Phase-3 trial, for which it plans to recruit around 30,000 volunteers across 60 clinical trial sites, last month. The vaccine can be stored at 2-8 degrees temperature, making it conducive for Indian cold chain conditions.

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