Global pharma major Merck & Co has entered into a $130 million partnership with London-based Wellcome Trust to set up a not-for-profit research company in India. Merck operates in India as MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd.
The joint venture, the MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories, will focus on developing affordable vaccines to prevent diseases that commonly affect low-income countries, MSD said.
Merck and the Wellcome Trust will invest equally in the R&D joint venture, which will be primed with a combined cash contribution of £90 million ($130 million) over the next seven years and will support a staff of approximately 60 researchers and developers. India has been chosen as the location due to the country’s expertise in low cost vaccine production.
Naveen Rao, MD, MSD India, said the new company would be an independent entity and would turn functional as soon as it gets requisite regulatory sanctions. The profits will be ploughed back into the company for funding further research, he said.
Altaf A Lal, health attaché and regional representative of the United States Department of Health and Human Services in New Delhi till now, has been appointed CEO of Hilleman.
“If we are successful at building new partnerships and collaborations with governments, other companies and NGOs, I am confident that we will be successful in delivering vaccines to the people who need them,” said Lal. “This is why I am making a firm commitment as CEO of this new venture to proceed by working in concert with the global vaccine community, obtaining feedback and input at every step.”