Pharma major Wockhardt will supply millions of doses of multiple Covid-19 vaccines, including that being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, under a deal with the UK announced on Monday. Shares of the firm jumped 10 per cent after the news. The firm has reserved fill-and-finish capacity — the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them — as part of the agreement, it said. This is the latest step by the UK to secure supplies and production...

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s supply of antiviral drug remdesivir and generic equivalents is stabilising after shortages of the vital COVID-19 medicine at hospitals, according to a top executive at one of the country’s big drugmakers, Cipla Ltd. Remdesivir, made by U.S.-based Gilead Sciences Inc, has been in high demand globally, and a handful of companies including Cipla are authorised to make and sell generic versions in 127 developing nations. Cipla’s launch of remdesivir in late June,...

BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Reliance Industries Ltd <RELI.NS> has bought a majority stake in online pharmacy Netmeds for 6.2 billion rupees ($83 million), facing up to Amazon.com in the competition for the country’s fast-expanding online drug market. The deal will give the oil-to-telecoms conglomerate a 60% stake in Netmeds, which sells both over-the-counter medication and more than 70,000 prescriptions drugs, Reliance said...

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Flipkart will raise $1.2 billion in funding led by majority owner Walmart Inc <WMT.N>, the Indian e-commerce firm said on Tuesday, as it looks to compete better with Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> in a coronavirus-hit market. The investment, also funded by other existing shareholders, values Flipkart at $24.9 billion, and comes two years after U.S. retail giant Walmart paid $16 billion for a more than 70% stake in Flipkart. Besides Amazon, Flipkart faces competition from local...

BENGALURU/MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s high-tech hub of Bengaluru will go back into a coronavirus lockdown for a week on Tuesday after a surge of infections, threatening to derail government efforts to revive a stuttering economy. Places of worship, public transport, government offices and most shops will shut down again from the evening, and people will be confined to their homes, only allowed out for essential needs. Schools, colleges and restaurants will stay shut, authorities...