India emerges as world’s key vaccine manufacturing hub
of Indian manufacturers, sources say. While two vaccine candidates that have entered the human trial phase, are from India nine are from other countries. Two firms working outside of India have inked an agreement with Indian manufacturers for production of Covid-19 vaccines, which shows the might of the Indian vaccine industry.
The IMARC report has segmented the Indian vaccine market on the basis of vaccine types. In 2019, varicella accounted for the maximum share of the total monovalent vaccine market in India, whereas oral polio accounted for the biggest share of the combined vaccine market in India.
The report has also analysed the competitive landscape and provides the profiles of the key players operating in the market. In 2019, Glaxosmithkline
represented the largest player in the Indian vaccine market. Other major players included Sanofi Aventis, Pfizer, Novartis and Serum Institute of India.
All over the world, more than 140 candidate vaccines for Covid-19 infection are under various stages of development. Out of them, 11 vaccine candidates have entered the human trial phase. Of the 11, two are Indian vaccine candidates.
One of the leading vaccine candidates in the world is AZD1222, developed by Jenner Institute of University of Oxford and licensed to Astrazeneca British-swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. While the MRNA-1273 vaccine developed by Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Washington,
and taken up for production by the Us-based Moderna pharmaceutical, is just a step behind. Both these firms have inked agreements with Indian manufacturers for vaccine production.
Two Covid-19 vaccine candidates from India—covaxin, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), and Zycov-d vaccine by Zydus Cadila—recently got the nod for human clinical trials from the Drug Controller General of India. Both have been approved for Phase II, III trials.
“The nod given by the Drug Controller General of India CDSCO (the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) for the conduct of the human trial for the vaccines, marks the beginning of the end,” reads a letter by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
“Several institutions have also engaged in research and development for the development of vaccines in India. With the primary scientific inputs coming from institutions like Pune-based ICMR institution National Institute of Virology and Hyderabad-based CSIR institution Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, six Indian companies are working on a vaccine for Covid-19,” the Ministry said.
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin uses the virus isolated from an Indian patient by the National Institute of Virology to develop the inactivated virus vaccine. Bharat Biotech has earlier developed vaccines against polio, rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis and Zika.