Cipla seeks DCGI nod to import Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine
DCGI is likely to take up the application soon and may even grant permission to import the COVID-19 vaccine today.
June 29, 2021 / 12:24 PM IST
The two-shot Moderna regime is around 90 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 95 percent effective against severe disease. Source: Reuters
Pharma major Cipla has filed an application with the Drugs Controller General of India seeking permission to import Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine in India.
The firm submitted its application to the drugs regulator on June 28, sources told CNBC TV-18.
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People aware of the development also said that DCGI is likely to take up the application soon and may even grant permission to import the COVID-19 vaccine today.
Cipla has said that there is no confirmatory or final agreement on COVID-19 vaccine import yet. "The company is seeking clarity and guidance on factors such as pricing, quantity and indemnity clause," Cipla told CNBC TV-18.
Cipla had earlier sought indemnification, exemptions from price capping, bridging trials and basic customs duty waiver from the Indian government. Similar requests for indemnity and exemption from bridging trials have been made by another US major Pfizer as well.
The two-shot Moderna regime is around 90 percent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 95 percent effective against severe disease.
The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine was developed in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health using messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.
Moderna’s vaccine remains stable at -20°C, the temperature of a household freezer, for up to six months. It can remain refrigerated at 4°C for up to 30 days.
This vaccine has been widely used in countries such as Canada, United States and the United Kingdom under emergency use authorisations granted by these countries and the World Health Organisation.
