Heena Sharma Blog

  Drug major Cipla on Thursday announced the commercialisation of its RT-PCR test kit ' ViraGen ' for COVID-19 in India, in partnership with Ubio Biotechnology Systems. "This launch will help address the current testing services and capacity issues while reaffirming the company's ongoing expansion in the diagnostic space," Cipla said in a regulatory filing. Cipla will launch ViraGen test kit in the country in partnership with Ubio Biotechnology Systems, the company stated. The company will commence supply of the COVID-19 virus detection kit from May 25, 2021. Umang Vohra, MD and Global CEO, Cipla, said, Cipla has been working relentlessly to ensure accessibility to treatments in this fight against COVID-19. Guided by our core purpose of 'Caring for Life', this partnership will enable us to reach out to more people across the country at a crucial time like now. Read More

The total number of coronavirus cases across the world has crossed the 10-million mark and the death toll has gone past 500,000. There currently are over 100 vaccines at various stages of development worldwide, including in India, Britain, China, the US, Russia and Israel. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist at WHO, said nearly 2 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would be ready by the end of next year. But who would be the first to get a Covid-19 vaccine? Probably people in the country where the first effective vaccine is developed. Thus, there's pressure from governments on pharmaceutical companies and scientists to come up with a vaccine as soon as possible. Last week, WHO said UK-based AstraZeneca was leading the vaccine race while US-based pharmaceutical major Moderna was not far behind. Read More