Drug maker Zydus Cadila on Monday said it has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting clinical trials for the swine flu (H1N1) vaccine. With this approval Zydus Cadila becomes the first Indian pharma company to commence multi-centric clinical trials of its vaccine, the Ahmedabad-based firm said in a statement to the BSE. In recent times, the pandemic H1N1 Influenza has claimed thousands of lives across the globe. “With the vaccine in the market soon, we should be able to prevent further loss of lives to this infectious disease,” Zydus Cadila CMD Pankaj R Patel said. With the speedy completion of trials and the fast track approvals, the indigenous H1N1 vaccine is expected to hit the markets by April this year, the company said.
