PM Modi hails Zydus Biotech Park team’s work after visit, to visit Bharat Biotech facility next

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reviewed the Covid-19 vaccine development at Ahmedabad’s Zydus Biotech Park and appreciated the team for work done on Zydus Cadila’s candidate before starting for Bharat Biotech’s facility in Telangana.

“Visited the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad to know more about the indigenous DNA based vaccine being developed by Zydus Cadila. I compliment the team behind this effort for their work. Government of India is actively working with them to support them in this journey,” he tweeted.

In his interaction with scientists and company officials, PM Modi was briefed about the vaccine development work and the vaccine production procedure at the plant, according to PTI.

 Also Watch | PM Modi reviews development of Covid vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D

Phase-I clinical trial of Zydus Cadila’s vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D is over and it has commenced phase-II clinical trials from August, the company had announced.

The PM, who is on a three-city tour to take stock of the Covid-19 vaccine development work, has arrived in Hyderabad to visit Bharat Biotech’s facility. Biotech has partnered with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a country-made Covid-19 vaccine using the virus strain isolated by ICMR’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) based in Pune.

After assessing the progress made in manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, which is undergoing phase-3 trials, the prime minister will fly to Pune’s Serum Institute of India (SII). The SII has partnered with global pharma giant AstraZeneca and the Oxford University for the vaccine.

(with agency inputs)