BUSINESS
Explained: Why conditional approval for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is raising questions
The DCGI has said the approval is in “clinical trial mode” but has not clarified this in detail. If an experimental vaccine is given to people, there should be informed consent explaining the potential risks and benefits of the vaccine and post-vaccination follow-up. In case there is any serious adverse reaction, the recipient may also be eligible for compensation.
BUSINESS
Coronavirus vaccine India | Covaxin offers protection against mutant COVID-19 strains, says Bharat Biotech, ICMR
Bharat Biotech said the evaluation of its coronavirus vaccine Covaxin has resulted in several unique product characteristics including long term persistence of immune responses to multiple viral proteins, as opposed to only the spike protein, and has demonstrated broad spectrum neutralizing capability with heterologous SARS-CoV2 strains, thus potentially reducing or eliminating escape mutants.
BUSINESS
Explained | SII's COVID-19 vaccine: What is emergency approval, what does the data show, what next after clearance and more
The Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is also reviewing the emergency use applications of Bharat Biotech and Pfizer.
BUSINESS
Serum Institute of India to have 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses ready by January first week
The Indian government is planning to vaccinate 300 million people in the first wave of vaccination. The first phase will target 10 million frontline health workers by February.
BUSINESS
Will normalcy return to COVID-hit Indian pharmaceutical market in 2021?
The pharmaceutical sector is expecting sales to normalise by the second half of 2021, with the availability of COVID-19 vaccine and coronavirus receding.
BUSINESS
UK nod to Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine strengthens case for India approval
The subject expert committee of the India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is likely to meet later on December 30 to examine SII's emergency-use authorisation application for Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
BUSINESS
Explained: What are VLP-based Covid-19 vaccines, and why is the platform attracting vaccine cos?
Two VLP vaccines have reached the clinical trial stage. Canadian biotech firm Medicago, backed by tobacco behemoth Phillip Morris, vaccine candidate based on VLP has reached phase 2/3 trial.
BUSINESS
ICMR chief says non-judicious use of therapies against Covid will lead to immune pressure on virus
"It is important from the scientific community perspective that we do not put too much immune pressure on the virus; we have to maintain the judicious use of therapies, which are going to benefit," Bhargava explained.
BUSINESS
Biological E raises $5 million from CEPI to scale up production of COVID-19 vaccine
CEPI will also explore providing additional funds to BE with the goal of potentially enabling the production of 100 million doses in 2021.
BUSINESS
Serum Institute of India launches world's most affordable pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
Serum Institute of India, which is the world's largest vaccine maker by volume, has priced pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, branded as Pneumosil, at $3 per dose for public market and little over $10 per dose for private market.
BUSINESS
COVID-19 vaccine | Adar Poonawalla of SII expects AstraZeneca-Oxford covid vaccine approval 'very soon'
The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, India's drug regulator, is likely to meet later this week to examine SII's emergency-use authorisation (EUA) application for Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
BUSINESS
Why 2020 has been a watershed year for healthcare firms going digital
The use of internet of technologies, machine learning and robotics, virtual reality and blockchain technologies are no more exotic technologies, but have now started to become mainstream in healthcare.
BUSINESS
Gavi secretariat recommends Board to allott India 20% of covid-19 vaccine doses from COVAX AMC
Gavi Secretariat report said India accounts for over 35 percent of the total AMC participants’ population.
BUSINESS
Zydus Cadila plans to test its COVID-19 vaccine on 30,000 volunteers in late stage trial
Cadila Healthcare said its vaccine was found to be well tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials.
BUSINESS
Aurobindo Pharma enters licensing pact with US biotech COVAXX for manufacture, sale of COVID-19 vaccine
COVAXX is currently conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial for the vaccine candidate.
BUSINESS
From nursing homes to corporate hospitals, how private healthcare has managed Covid-19
Private medical practitioners and their nursing homes form the backbone of primary and secondary healthcare in rural and urban India. But unlike large hospital chains, which are more resilient in terms of finances, resources and clout, Covid-19 has put many private healthcare providers in a difficult situation. Viswanath Pilla brings out the chalk and charcoal difference in these two private-sector segments through the story of a tiny clinic in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul town
BUSINESS
Neuberg Diagnostics to invest Rs 150 crore to expand in North, East India
The company's Chairman and Managing Director, GSK Velu, in a recent interview told Moneycontrol that the company will be ending FY21 with revenues of Rs 900 -1000 crore.
BUSINESS
How Covid-19 brought the faultlines of India’s creaking healthcare to the fore
For many Indians who get hospitalised, the road to recovery passes through the desolate swampland of poverty and debt. Out-of-pocket health expenses drove 55 million Indians into poverty in 2017 alone. In Part 1 of a deep dive into the healthcare system, Viswanath Pilla traces the journey undertaken by Odisha’s Ganesh Prasad and Telangana’s Lakshmi Narasamma. In fine detail, he outlines what the disease did to the duo, how the healthcare system saved one, lost another and plunged both families into penury
BUSINESS
Explained: Why the UK’s mutated coronavirus strain may not be an immediate threat to vaccines
The variant, a mutant of SARS-CoV-2, was first detected in September. By December, about two-thirds of Covid-19 cases in the UK were due to this new variant. UK officials say the variant may be 70 percent more transmissible than the original novel coronavirus. But experts say there is no cause for panic at the moment, as Covid-19 vaccines should confer protection against variants
BUSINESS
Should people who've recovered from COVID-19 get vaccinated? This is what the government says
The scientific experts are divided on this.
BUSINESS
USFDA panel recommends emergency use of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met on December 17, following a day-long discussion and presentations, decided to back the vaccine by a vote of 20 in favor and one abstention.
BUSINESS
Moderna’s COVID vaccine: What the USFDA briefing document says about its safety, efficacy, Asian participants
The Phase-3 trial for Moderna’s vaccine involved 30,400 participants. The vaccine was administered in two doses, 28 days apart, in adults 18 years of age and older. Moneycontrol has gleaned some key points from the data presented in the document. Read on.
BUSINESS
Vaccine approval: The USFDA has set a high bar on transparency. Here’s what India can learn
The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine panel’s entire review meeting, which ran into some eight hours, was telecast live and is available on YouTube. In contrast, the recent meeting that reviewed Serum Institute of India’s emergency-use application for the ‘Covishield’ vaccine seems opaque. The DCGI statement on the meeting does not explain why domain expert Dr Sushant Meshram did not participate in the discussion. It did not even detail who took part in the meetings, who was present from the regulator’s side, and what views were expressed. An expert says there is no law prohibiting the government or regulator DCGI from sharing more information
BUSINESS
Viatris to shut or sell two plants in India as part of global restructuring exercise
The company hasn’t disclosed how many employees will be impacted by the move but said workforce reductions at the impacted manufacturing sites are expected to occur in phases over the next few years. Viatris is also selling or shutting facilities in Morgantown, West Virginia; Baldoyle, Ireland, and Caguas, Puerto Rico. The restructuring is likely to impact 20 percent of its global workforce or 9,000 jobs
