ZyCoV-D: India’s first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19 

ZyCoV-D: India’s first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – Health & GS-III – Sci & Tech

In news 

• India’s first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D has been approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for conduct of the Phase III clinical trials.

Key takeaways 

• The candidate has been supported by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) under the aegis of BIRAC and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
• Zydus Cadila completed Phase-I/II clinical trials of this DNA Vaccine candidate, in India, in more than 1,000 participants. 
• Interim data has indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic when three doses were administered intradermally (in the skin).
• The DCGI has accorded permission for conducting Phase-III clinical trial in 26,000 Indian participants.

Important value additions 

National Biopharma Mission (NBM)

• It is an industry-academia collaborative mission for accelerating biopharmaceutical development in the country.
• Launched in: 2017 at a total cost of Rs 1500 crore. 
• It is 50% co-funded by World Bank loan.
• Implemented by: Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

• Under this Mission, the Government has launched Innovate in India (i3) programme to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the biopharma sector.
• It has a focus on following four verticals: (1) Development of product leads for Vaccines , Biosimilars and Medical Devices that are relevant to the public health; (2) Upgradation of shared infrastructure facilities; (3) Developing human capital by providing specific training; (4) Developing technology transfer offices to help enhance industry academia inter-linkages.