Johnson & Johnson To Not Conduct Clinical Trails In India; Vaccine To Be Made Available By July

The COVID-19 vaccine by Johnson and Johnson will reportedly not be undertaking local trials for its vaccine in India.

According to a report in Economic Times, while the US-based pharmaceuticals company had sought approval for conducting bridging trials in the country, it would not have to do the same now since India has scrapped that requirement. Moreover, the company has stated that it is exploring how to accelerate the availability of its vaccine in India.

In recent developments, the Drugs Controller General of India (DGI) had informed that the vaccines for the coronavirus which were approved for restricted use by regulators in the US, UK, Europe and Japan, or which were on the World Health Organization's Emergency Use Listing, would not have to go through clinical trials in India.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Johnson and Johnson is likely to be available in the market across the country by July this year. As per reports, the Association of Healthcare Providers is in the process of privately procuring the vaccine directly from the US-based manufacturer.

However, even if the vaccine were to arrive early, it would be limited to a few thousand doses initially. Moreover, this vaccine is to be priced at $25 in India, which as per the current conversion rate comes to INR 1,855 making it the costliest vaccines in the country. Furthermore, the vaccine does not require to be stored in freezing temperatures like several other COVID-19 vaccines, therefore, making it convenient for a country like India.

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