India’s Pharma Companies on the Forefront of Covid19 Vaccines

India as the 12th largest exporter of medical goods in the world, is presently the world’s largest supplier of generic medications and Vaccines, accounting for 20% volume of the worldwide supply.

The one country that has been there in the very forefront of the war waged against the novel coronavirus Covid19, is none other than India. From quickly developing affordable vaccines and therapies to providing with affiliated essential drugs to millions of people across the globe, India has done it all.

The way Indian pharmaceutical industry helped in mass Covid19 vaccinations globally, imbibed hope against this catastrophic disease. The industry delivered, first with diagnostic tests, then with PPEs, masks, and ventilators, followed by antipyretics, antimalarials, antivirals, steroids, and antibiotics, and finally with vaccines.

List of India’s Vaccines against Covid19 

 

One of the earliest and most popular Covid19 vaccines happen to be Covishield. It was developed and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) along with the Oxford-AstraZeneca.

 

SII has got another name to its credit, i,e Covovax. Having more than 90% efficiency rate in a late-stage US-based clinical trial, this vaccine is considered to be a local version of the Novavax vaccine.

Covaxin got developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech’s Bio-Safety Level III high containment facility.

India also developed the world’s first DNA based vaccine for COVID-19 called ZyCoV-D, which happens to be an initiative by Zydus Cadila. It received the due approval of Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), on August 20, 2021.

The interim results of the third phase clinical trials of this drug showed primary efficacy of 66.6% against symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases.

Last but not the least, Corbevax came from the bag of Indian pharma company Biological E, which was developed along with US-based Dynavax and Baylor College of Medicine.

This vaccine happens to be India’s first indigenously developed recombinant protein subunit vaccine; as it is made up of the coronavirus’ ‘spike protein’, which the virus uses in order to hook onto and enter the human cells.

Statistical Highlights of India’s Contribution in Core Covid Vaccination Globally

• About 60% volume of the global demand for vaccines.

 

• India supplies about 60-80% of the UN’s annual vaccine procurement.

 

• The country is also emerging as a significant supplier of biosimilars such as insulins, therapeutic antibodies, etc.

 

• Till May 2021, India supplied a total of about 586.4 lakh COVID-19 vaccines, comprising grants of around 81.3 lakh, commercial exports of approximately 339.7 lakh, and exports under the COVAX platform of around 165.5 lakh, to more than 71 countries.

 

• By the end of 2021, India supplied 115 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries, of which almost 70 million were in the form of grants.

 

• In 2020-21, we exported over $24 billion worth of pharmaceuticals to the world.

It would not be too wrong to say that India is the largest manufacturing region for vaccines worldwide, and currently, two-thirds of its production is exported, while one-third is used domestically, with the UIP  helping to distribute the vaccines countrywide.

While the production, including the third party pharma manufacturing; has grown significantly, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to climb to US$ 65 billion by the year 2024.

Image Source: www.ibef.org

Covid Allied Contributions Other Than Vaccines

Indian pharma exporters reached out to over 20 countries, joining hand in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Although initially, there was a slight delay in exporting of certain drugs, India did provide the world with critical drugs like hydroxychloroquine, paracetamol, azithromycin, etc.

As of today, India is the world’s second largest manufacturer of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits. From an actual shortage to manufacturing 200,000 PPE kits and 200,000 N-95 masks every day, India took less than a year to accomplish its Atmanirbhar vision.

Apart from developing vaccines and providing sufficient supply of crucial drugs, Indian pharma sector developed a robust information technology system to track and trace infections, create databases and real-time dashboards to map the pandemic, and deploy vaccines in bulk.

In order to reduce the adverse effects caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lock-down in India, the industry adopted innovative ways to support physicians and ensure that patients continued to receive life saving medicines.

Many of the pharma companies set up helplines for patients and their field staff worked diligently during the lock-down to facilitate medical supplies even to the extreme remote areas, ensuring the well-being of patients.

Other Additional Contributions

Pharma manufacturers in India supplied the world with a wide range of medicines even for other  non-Covid-19 health threats such as cancer, diabetes, heart attacks, HIV infections, malaria, tuberculosis, etc.

India contributes substantially to about 40-70% of WHO’s demand for vaccines against BCG, Pertussis, Diphtheria and Tetanus. It also supports the global demand for vaccines for the treatment of measles and that accounts to 90%.

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