Cipla close to finalising deal with Moderna

Cipla has urged the government for indemnification and exemptions from price capping, bridging trials and basic customs duty. This was done to seek fast-track approvals to bring Moderna’s single-dose COVID-19 booster vaccine in India expeditiously. The two companies are close to a US$1-billion deal.

Cipla requested the government that the booster vaccine can be covered under the liberalised pricing policy and kept exempt from any price capping. Citing international examples, it also coaxed the government to have indemnity in case of any adverse effects or complications caused by the Moderna vaccine. It appealed to the government to extend the exemption on basic customs duty on import of Covid-19 vaccines to the whole of 2022. It also appreciated NITI Aayog’s recent statement  that bridging trial requirement for vaccines approved by the US FDA, EMA and others will be waived off altogether for well-established vaccines, manufactured in other countries.

This move by Cipla comes after a high-level meeting held recently during which it was discussed that Moderna has proposed to launch a single-dose vaccine for the Indian market. “It is imperative Cipla brings Moderna booster vaccines to India urgently, having immediately made available the largest portfolio of Covid-19 drugs amongst Indian pharmaceutical companies, including the state-of-the-art antibody cocktail of Casirivimab and Imdevimab,” said the pharma giant.