JOIN USCadila jumps nearly 8% after Covid-19 vaccine gets India emergency use nod
Shares of Cadila Healthcare Ltd jumped 7.9 per cent on Monday after India last week approved the drugmaker's Covid-19 vaccine, the world's first DNA shot against the coronavirus, for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above.
The vaccine, developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology, is the second home-grown shot to get emergency authorisation in the country after Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
Cadila aims to make 10-12 crore doses of ZyCoV-D annually and has begun stockpiling the vaccine.
The company's Group Managing Director Sharvil Patel said on Saturday the supply of vaccine, which will be scaled up to 1 crore per month from October, will start by mid-September, according to a media report.
Patel added there will be more clarity on the price of the vaccine by this week, the report said.
The approval gives a boost to India's vaccination programme, which aims to inoculate all eligible adults by December, and will provide the first shot for those under 18, as the country still struggles to contain the virus spread in some states.
The nod comes at a time when there are looming concerns over a possible third wave of Covid-19 infections during the winter months, which could hit children.
Cadila's stock gained the most in four months on Monday and has so far risen 12.2 per cent this year, as of last close, compared with a 6.16 per cent rise in the Nifty Pharma index.