Pfizer‘s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Albert Bourla, has stated that the company is in the final stages of getting the approval to supply its COVID-19 vaccine to India.

“I hope very soon we will finalise an agreement with the government,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI at the 15th Annual BioPharma and Healthcare Summit.

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This comes only weeks after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) removed the prerequisite for India-specific tests, allowing multinational vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna to be used in India. The move was made in response to a nationwide scarcity of vaccine doses and was intended to expedite their import.

Previously, vaccine manufacturers were forced to do “bridging trials,” or restricted clinical trials, on the Indian population in order to learn how the medication worked on Indians.

However, DCGI chairman V G Somani announced in a letter earlier this month that the mandate had been removed. His letter read, “in the light of the huge vaccination requirements in India in the wake of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases and the need for increased availability of imported vaccines”.

According to the letter, foreign vaccinations would only need permission from specific nations or health organisations.

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The Pfizer vaccine, like the other vaccinations now available in India, was produced utilising mRNA technology and is a double-dose vaccine.

After Sputnik V, the Pfizer vaccine will become the second foreign vaccine to be approved for use in India. The approval is likely to strengthen the country’s vaccination efforts.