ZydusCadila in talks with government on pricing of ZyCoV-D vaccine from October quarter

Cadila Healthcare (Zydus Cadila) said it expects monthly sales of Rs 200-250 crore from its COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D from the October quarter. This can be scaled up to Rs 500 crore per month, the company said in an analyst call on August 23.

Zydus said it is still in discussions with the government on the pricing and volumes and expects to roll out one crore vaccines per month from October. It has already indicated that it has the capacity to produce 10-12 million doses of the ZyCoV-D vaccine.

Zydus Cadila has received a EUA from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for its COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D – the world's first Plasmid DNA vaccine to be approved for humans. It is also the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for adolescents in the 12-18 years age group in India.

The three-dose regimen vaccine has to be taken on days zero, 28th, and 56th and is administered through a needle-free device.

Zydus said it has also applied for a two-dose (3 mg per dose) regimen of ZyCoV-D and is in discussions with the regulator. The company said the immunogenicity for the two-dose regimen is equal to or better than three doses (2mg per dose).

The company expects clarity from the regulator in the next 5-8 days on possible gaps in terms of data that might need to be submitted. The company says it doesn't expect a full trial for the two-dose vaccine.