Vaccines made in India are responsible for two-thirds of the vaccination needs of the world's children

Underlining the contribution of India’s pharma industry across the globe, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said vaccines made in India are responsible for two-thirds of the vaccination needs of the world's children.

He said Indian companies are active in the international efforts for development and production of Covid-19 vaccine.

He said India's pharma industry is an asset not just for the country but for the entire world.

“It has played a leading role in reducing the cost of medicines especially for developing countries,” the Prime Minister said in his inaugural speech at India Global Week 2020, a virtual conference organized in the UK.

“I am certain that India will have an important role in developing and in scaling-up production of the vaccine once it is discovered,” Prime Minister Modi added.

Bharat Biotech is among a half-dozen Indian companies which are working on the development of coronavirus vaccines. Essential regulatory nod has been given by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for phase-I and phase-2 human trials of Covaxin, a vaccine which has been jointly developed by ICMR and Bharat Biotech.

Another pharma company, Zydus Cadila has also received approval from DCGI for human clinical trials for ZyCov-D, its vaccine candidate for Covid-19.

Then the ICMR, India’s premier medical research institute has recently announced that it is attempting to launch the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine on August 15.