Pharma firm Cadila Healthcare today said it has entered into an agreement with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop drug for the treatment of rabies.
"Zydus Cadila has entered into an agreement with WHO to explore a possible collaboration in the development of a cocktail for the treatment of rabies, through the use of monoclonal antibodies," Cadila Healthcare said in a filing to the Bombay stock Exchange.
Rabies, a viral disease which gets transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal, affects the central nervous system.
Under the agreement, WHO would be providing antibodies capable of neutralising rabies virus and genetic sequences thereof for evaluation at the Zydus Research Center.
The agreement would provide a stepping stone for the development and commercialisation of the cocktail, to be used as an adjuvant therapy, the filing said. Zydus currently manufactures and markets rabies vaccines — VaxiRab and Lyssavac N, it added.
"The therapy if developed and commercialised, could herald a new approach in the fight against the fatal disease," Cadila Healthcare said.
Shares of Cadila Healthcare were trading at Rs 340, down 0.16 per cent in the morning trade on the BSE.