Cipla to add Moderna to the list of Covid vaccines to India

Mumbai-based pharma company Cipla will add Moderna to the list of Covid-19 vaccines available in India for restricted emergency use.

Sources said that the company has received permission from Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to import Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for restricted emergency use in the country.

With the permission, the vaccine by the US-based company could be imported and start getting used in country’s vaccination programme. The company will only have to provide safety assessment data of the first 100 beneficiaries before mass rollout.

Cipla’s statement on the approval was not available till filing of the story despite contact made with the company and assurances being provided over the same.

As per changes made in approval process for Covid vaccines for emergency use in the country, the government has now decided to waive bridging trials for foreign vaccines if it is cleared for emergency use in countries like the US and if the safety assessment data of the first 100 beneficiaries is submitted before mass rollout.

Introduction of Moderna’s vaccine is expected to give a boost to the country’s mass vaccination programme. Right now only three vaccines – Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Serum Institute’s Covishield and Russian Sputnik V are available in the country for vaccination.

Moderna’s vaccine is said to be 90 per cent effective against Covid. Like Pfizer, Moderna is an mRNA vaccine that has fragments of the genetic material known as messenger RNA.