Indian drugmaker Zydus Cadila (CADI.NS) said on Thursday it has applied to the country's drug regulator for emergency use approval of its COVID-19 vaccine and that it plans to manufacture up to 120 million doses of the shot annually.

Coronavirus cases in India dropped from a devastating peak in April and May, however, experts have warned of a third wave and reiterated that widespread vaccination remains one of the best defences against the pandemic.





An approval for Zydus' vaccine, ZyCoV-D, would make it the fifth vaccine authorized for use in India, after Moderna, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and partner Serum Institute of India's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, and Sputnik V developed by Russia's Gamaleya Institute.

ZyCoV-D showed safety and efficacy in a late-stage trial with more than 28,000 volunteers across the country, including about 1,000 subjects in the 12-18 year age group, Zydus said.

The study was carried out "during the peak of second wave of COVID-19 (in India), reaffirming the vaccine's efficacy against the new mutant strains especially the Delta variant," Zydus said in a statement to the stock exchanges.