Gujarat: Zydus Cadila now plans to test its Covid-19 vaccine for 5-12 age group

AHMEDABAD: After covering adults and children aged between12 and18 years under the ongoing clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine ZyKov-D, Zydus Cadila now plans to test its plasmid DNA vaccine for children in the age group of 5 to 12 years.
The pharma major has already covered 800-plus children in 12-18 years clinical trials. “We will have a good amount of data on children in this age group.If everything goes well in terms of safety, the vaccine will potentially be approved for use in children aged 12 to 18 years,” said Dr Sharvil Patel, managing director, Cadila Healthcare Limited, the flagship company of the Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Group.
When asked about the company’s plan to test the vaccine for use in children below the age of 12 years, Patel said, “Yes, definitely. The vaccine development always happens in phases. Obviously, it starts with adults, followed by children in the 12-18 year age group and then you go towards younger kids aged five and above.”
Patel added that the next phase of the trials would be to test the vaccine for children aged 5 to 12. “This platform will be more useful for children because it will be devoid of any side effects that you get to see in many other vaccines. Another benefit of our vaccine is that it involves ‘needlefree’ administration,” he added.
Zydus is expecting to receive regulatory approval for the emergency use of its vaccine in adults by June-end or July.