Which Indian Pharma Companies working on COVID Vaccine? Find out!

List of Indian Pharma Companies working on COVID Vaccine: In 2020, the world has been facing its biggest viral pandemic since the Spanish Flu of 1918. The COVID-19 has created havoc among people all around the world. There has been a total of 65.2 million global cases to date with India about 9.6 million COVID cases. And to solve this pandemic, a lot of global and Indian pharma companies are working on the COVID-19 vaccine.

In this article, we are going to discuss Indian Pharma Companies working on COVID Vaccine and their recent achievements. Let’s get started.

The Global Picture of COVID-19 Vaccine

As of December 2020, the Global economic scenario seems to be improving and we see most of the global Indices are either making new highs or trading near their highs. But why do we see sudden positivity or sentimental change amongst traders and investors? The answer to this lies in the fact that a lot of global pharma companies have a good approval rate for their COVID-19 vaccines in access of over 90%.

Global pharma giant “Pfizer” has approved their first batch of vaccines and it has been packed and shipped to the UK. This news gives a lot of hope to people elsewhere who are anticipating and expecting the COVID-19 vaccine. 

The UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 on Wednesday, 3rd December 2020 after “rigorous” analysis by its independent regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

One travel agent based out of Mumbai in recent news said there has been a sudden surge in the demand for air tickets to the UK and this could be mainly attributed to the fact that the COVID vaccines will soon be given to the public in UK and Indians are willing to there and get an early dosage of vaccine. The demand has gone to such an extent that the tour operators are rolling out three-day tour packages to the UK for vaccines. 

Indian Pharma Companies working on COVID Vaccine

All the major Pharma companies in India have been on a constant search of Vaccine for COVID-19. As many as 7 companies (Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax, and Biological E) have been working on Vaccine formation and Vaccines trials in India. And of late the results have been encouraging to say the least. 

Let us try and understand the progress and results of different Indian Pharma companies working on the COVID vaccine.

— Covaxin, Bharat Biotech

This Vaccine is being made and manufactured in Hyderabad. It has been developed in collaboration with ICMR (Indian Council Medical Research). After successful completion of the interim analysis from the Phase 1 & 2 clinical trials of COVAXINTM, Bharat Biotech received DCGI approval for Phase 3 clinical trials in 26,000 participants in over 25 centers across India. This vaccine will be a two-dose vaccine when approved.

(Image courtesy: Barat Biotech)

— AstraZeneca, Serum Institute of India

AstraZeneca along with Oxford University are the prime contenders for developing the COVID vaccine by January 2020. The overall effectiveness of the Oxford Vaccine stood at 70%. But AstraZeneca claims that the effectiveness goes up to 90% if the first dose is a half one and it is followed by a full dose. They have recently been in the news when the effectiveness of their vaccine was questioned and their share prices took a hit.

(Image courtesy: Zee news)

— ZyCoV-D, Zydus Cadila

Zydus Cadila is another Indian Pharma Companies working on COVID Vaccine. This is an Ahmedabad based Pharma company and has successfully completed the initial trials. Zydus Cadila is expected to conduct its third phase from next month on 30000 candidates. Phase 2 trials were done on 1000 candidates and the results for same are to be submitted to Indian drug realtors this month. This vaccine when approved will be a three-dose vaccine.

The chairman of Zudus Cadila, Mr. Pankaj Patel, said that once all the regulatory approvals are in place, the company will produce 100 million doses of vaccine.

(Image courtesy: Editorji.com)

— Panacea Biotec

This Unnamed vaccine is being developed by Panacea Biotec pharma company. To manufacturer this vaccine, Panacea Biotec has entered into a Joint venture in Ireland with US-based Refsana Inc. It will manufacture over 500 million doses of Covid-19 candidate vaccine. Over 40 million doses are expected to be available for delivery early next year. 

— Indian Immunologicals vaccine

Vaccine manufacturer Indian Immunologicals and Griffith University in Australia have partnered to develop a potential vaccine candidate against Covid-19. This collaboration is with the intention of creating a single-dose vaccine with a long-lasting impact.

— Mynvax

IISc, Bangalore based Mynvax has published its report to show its heat-tolerant COVID vaccine. And this vaccine is already in the process of development. Dr. Gautam Nadig (co-founder of Mynvax), said that the vaccine is near completion and the medicine has shown high tolerance and it can be stored for more than a month at a temperature of 37 degrees without losing its effectiveness. So cold chain will not be required for vaccine storage. 

— Biological E

Biological E is a Hyderabad based pharma company. On November 16, 2020, Biological E along with Dynavax Technologies Corporation (Dynavax), a US-based vaccine focused biopharmaceutical company, and Baylor College of Medicine, a health sciences university in Houston, TX announced that Phase I/II of the vaccine trials have started. And the results of the clinal trial is expected to be out by February 2021.

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Closing Thoughts

In the discussion above, it is clear that there are numerous players in the Indian Pharma set up who are in the process of completing of Vaccine for COVID-19. Most of them have completed their phase I/II trials and have already started the Phase III trials. In General, developing an effective vaccine takes years of research. However, the work of years has had to be completed within the months. The world is hoping for the vaccines to be approved and available to be used soon, and normalcy prevails.

That’s all for today’s Market Forensics. We’ll be back tomorrow with another interesting market news and analysis. Till then, Take care and Happy investing!!