Supporting Moderna for Covid vax to be donated to India: Cipla

NEW DELHI: Pharma major Cipla on Tuesday said it is supporting Moderna with the regulatory approval and import of COVID-19 vaccines to be donated to India and there is no agreement on commercial supplies at this stage.

India's drug regulator DCGI has granted permission to Cipla to import Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for restricted emergency use in the country, officials said on Tuesday.

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Moderna's vaccine will be the fourth COVID-19 jab to be available in India after Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

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"Cipla Limited is supporting Moderna, Inc. with the regulatory approval and importation of vaccines to be donated to India. At this stage, there is no definitive agreement on commercial supplies," Cipla said in a statement.

NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said at a press conference that the new permission for restricted emergency use potentially opens up a clear possibility of this vaccine being imported to India in the near future.

"Our efforts to invite and to have other internationally developed vaccines specifically Pfizer and J&J also continue. Those processes are on. We are also looking at increasing the production of availability of vaccines that are being manufactured in our country," Paul added.