Johnson & Johnson will not be undertaking local trials for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine in India and is looking at ways to accelerate its availability in the country, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday, citing a company spokesperson.
J&J said in April it was in talks with India’s government to begin a bridging clinical study of its Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the country.
In late May, India said it would scrap local trials altogether for “well-established” vaccines manufactured in other countries.
The U.S.-based drugmaker is exploring how to accelerate the availability of its vaccine in India, the Economic Times report said.
Over 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered across India last week, with pandemic-induced restrictions being eased further.
Experts have said widespread vaccination remains one of the best tools to avoid the kind of devastation India saw during its second wave of the pandemic.