Indian pharma major Cipla will “facilitate” the import of Covid vaccines donated by US biotech major Moderna, possibly in the near future, under licence for restricted use by India’s drug regulator DCGI.
In parallel, Cipla is also pursuing a separate tie-up with the US firm to undertake large-scale fill-and-finish, distribution and commercialisation of Moderna’s messenger or mRNA vaccines. Moderna’s vaccine becomes the fourth to get emergency authorisation in the country after Serum Institute’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik V.
Niti Aayog member (health) V K Paul told a media briefing on Tuesday that the regulatory clearance potentially opens up a clear possibility of the vaccine being imported to India in the near future. “An application received from Moderna through their Indian partner Cipla has been granted new drug permission for restricted use which is commonly known as emergency use authorisation,” Paul said. “Our efforts to invite and to have other internationally developed vaccines, specifically Pfizer and J&J, also continue. Those processes are on,” Paul added.
Elaborating on the development, Cipla’s global CEO Umang Vohra told TOI, “This is not a commercial or supply deal, and we do not distribute this consignment either.”
