HONG KONG – In the midst of a COVID-19 crisis, India has waived the need for “well-established” foreign vaccines to undergo local trials. That could open doors for vaccines by Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc.
As infections and deaths continue to surge in some countries so does the demand for unfettered access to the technologies behind COVID-19 vaccines and other medical products. In seeking that access, several countries are stressing the need to develop their own manufacturing capacity as they look beyond the current pandemic.
HONG KONG – Laboring under the burden of a new wave of COVID-19 infections that have raised its case total to 15.3 million, second only to the U.S., India is ramping up its vaccination efforts by opening up COVID-19 vaccine availability to citizens 18 years or older from May 1, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. However, ensuring a steady vaccine supply for the world's second most populous country, with nearly 1.4 billion people, might prove to be an issue. So far, India has administered just over 124 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.
With shortages of the COVID-19 drug, remdesivir, being reported in several states in India, the country’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization is calling on state regulators to “immediately initiate remedial action to ensure supply of remdesivir injection to public and private hospitals.”
NEW DELHI – Significant disruptions to supplies of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from China caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led India to fundamentally rethink its supply chains and the structure of its pharmaceutical industry, according to industry executives and consultants.
NEW DELHI – India, which has the highest incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the world and the second highest of COVID-19, is looking to artificial intelligence (AI) to help detect and classify cases of both and lower the cost of diagnosis.
NEW DELHI – The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted its first emergency conditional approvals Jan. 3 for a pair of COVID-19 vaccines, including Covishield, developed abroad by Astrazeneca plc and Oxford University and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).
HONG KONG – India’s conditional approval on Jan. 3 of a COVID-19 vaccine developed domestically by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. but still in phase III trials has sparked concerns about its safety. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave emergency authorization to the product, Covaxin, along with the Astrazeneca plc and Oxford University vaccine Covishield. The DCGI said the conditional approval granting “restricted use in emergency situation” for Covaxin was done in “clinical trial mode” to account for the fact that the shot is still being tested. But the rush to approve it has created controversy and confusion.
HONG KONG – Votis Subdermal Imaging Technologies Ltd. is developing a diagnostics solution that could prevent the loss of feet among India’s impoverished due to affects of peripheral artery disease (PAD). The company has entered an agreement with India’s Ii Ventures Pte. Ltd. (iiV) to develop a system to screen the largely rural Indian population for PAD.
