After having missed the deadline of launching its swine flu vaccine in April this year, Delhi-based Panacea Biotec is now all set to launch it anytime this month.
"Things are almost through. The launch can be anytime now. We are ready," said Rajesh Jain, joint managing director, Panacea Biotec.
Panacea has invested close to Rs 100 crore to set up a 45 million dose per annum facility at Lalru in Punjab for the Pandyflu vaccine, which is an inactivated split version vaccine using egg-based technology.The company has also entered into an advance marketing agreement with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHWF) for supplying its H1N1 swine flu vaccine Pandyflu. The Union ministry of health and family welfare has been in discussions with indigenous vaccine manufacturers to assess their capacity to develop, manufacture and supply H1N1 swineflu vaccine for national programme.
Talking about the initial roll out volumes for Pandyflu, Jain told Business Standard that we are working very closely with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for arriving at volumes and are looking forward to hearing from them.
The company declined to comment on the possible pricing of the vaccine. Jain, however, added that it would be an all India launch. Panacea was in close competition with Ahmedabad based Zydus Cadila for a roll out of the swine flu vaccine. Zydus, however, launched its vaccine Vaxiflu in May this year ahead of Panacea.
The company, meanwhile, is also on the lookout for acquiring USFDA approved manufacturing facilities within India. Jain confirmed the development, but declined to comment on the potential target size. "We are looking actively for potential buys that fit our criteria, however, it is too early to give out further details", he said. With a presence in 35 countries, Panacea is targeting its pharmaceutical formulations at new markets after receiving approvals from regulatory agencies in Germany, Australia and the US.