Cipla CFO Kedar Upadhye said the company has obtained voluntary licences for Merck and Eli Lilly’s baricitinib and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s antibody cocktail, which it is expected to launch “over the next two months” (Representative Image)

Pharmaceutical major Cipla is looking to expand its portfolio of COVID-19 drugs over the next two months, according to company CFO Kedar Upadhye.

Speaking to Mint, Upadhye said the company has obtained voluntary licences for Merck and Eli Lilly’s baricitinib and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s antibody cocktail. The company plans to launch them “over the next two months”.

He added that the antibody cocktail’s timeline is “immediate”, adding: “Hopefully, we would be able to launch the cocktail in the next few days, subject to import.”

Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here

Swiss company Regeneron has signed with Cipla for exclusive distribution of the imported drug in India.

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.

Show

Coronavirus pandemic | Cipla to expand portfolio for COVID-19 drugs over next two months, says CFO

Swiss company Regeneron has signed with Cipla for exclusive distribution of its imported antibody cocktail in India.

Cipla CFO Kedar Upadhye said the company has obtained voluntary licences for Merck and Eli Lilly’s baricitinib and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s antibody cocktail, which it is expected to launch “over the next two months” (Representative Image)

Related stories