GEMCOVAC, India’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, developed by Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals’ was just lately authorized by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use in adults aged 18 years and above. Meanwhile, GlobalData, main knowledge and analytics firm, has claimed that the homegrown vaccine is more likely to see low penetration within the Indian market.
According to GlobalData’s ‘Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center’, India has up to now administered greater than 1.98 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses (as of 07 July 2022).
According to the federal government’s net portal, ‘CoWIN’, 93 p.c of the eligible inhabitants (12 years and above) in India acquired not less than one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, whereas 83 p.c of the eligible inhabitants are absolutely vaccinated as of 07 July 2022. In distinction, penetration for the precautionary dose (terminology used for a booster dose in India) is considerably low at <5 p.c.
“While the majority of India’s eligible population have completed their initial dosing of the COVID-19 vaccines, the mRNA platform is likely to be an option in the medium to long-term as a booster dose. GEMCOVAC-19 has currently not received approval for use as a booster dose in India. Hence, GlobalData expects low market penetration as the proportion of the eligible population yet to receive a COVID-19 vaccine is comparatively small,” Neha Myneni, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, mentioned in a press release on Monday.
GEMCOVAC-19 is the third mRNA vaccine choice worldwide for COVID-19, although solely authorized in India. The main mRNA vaccines are Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax. However, in India, Moderna’s Spikevax is the one authorized mRNA vaccine various for COVID-19, nevertheless, it’s not but out there to be used.
According to GlobalData, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) may contemplate GEMCOVAC-19 for inclusion in India’s ongoing nationwide program for COVID-19 vaccination, which indicators its attainable market launch quickly.
“GEMCOVAC-19’s approval surely paves the way for further development of homegrown mRNA vaccines for other deadly diseases in India. However, its success post-launch will likely depend on the government’s decision to procure and deploy the vaccine, as the majority of the vaccinations in India are driven by the government (40,530 vaccination sites run by the government vs. 1,396 sites run by private institutions),” Myneni added.
Earlier circumstances like ZyCoV-D (the world’s first DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine) and Sputnik V didn’t obtain as a lot success as anticipated in India because of the above cause (the market penetration of those two vaccines in India is <2%).
“With limited opportunity in India, particularly in adult patients who have not received their primary vaccine series, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals can aim for other lower and middle-income countries where COVID-19 vaccination rates are still low. In such cases, there may be unmet need for primary vaccination and GEMCOVAC-19 can emerge as the leading option, provided the vaccine’s clinical results are made available,” Myneni said.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”