Bharat Bio plans to launch rabies vaccine this year

Bharat Biotech International Ltd, a city-based biotech company, is planning to launch this year a vaccine for rabies and a biotherapeutic agent which will induce proliferation of epidermal cells.

Speaking to Business Standard, Suchitra Ella, founder director of Bharat Biotech International Limited said, "These new products, that we are planning to launch this year, have already cleared lab tests and are currently being evaluated for their clinical efficacy in humans. The results are encouraging."

The company hopes to launch these products in the later half of the year.

The biotherapeutic agent for the epidermal growth factor (EGF) is one of its kinds, being developed in the country.

EGF has therapeutic applications in wound healing, burns, diabetic ulcers and for some cosmetic applications. BBIL is developing EGF from conceptual to manufacturing stage.

"Even though we are working on other products in collaboration with other institutions, the EGF project is being developed entirely by BBIL's R&D team. We obtained the recombinant clone from the Institute of Genomics & Integrated Biology formerly known as Centre for Biochemical Technology," Ella said.

On the rabies vaccine, she said that it was different from the ones that are available in the market. BBIL's vaccine can be used for post-bite therapy of potential cases in human beings and is being developed using novel simpler purification techniques unlike the conventional expensive methods. BBIL's vaccine is therefore, more competitive and cost-effective.

She, however, refused to comment on the cost of these projects. "We would only be able to come out with the cost of the projects once we are ready to launch the products in the market," she said.

Apart from these two projects the company is also working on a vaccine for HepatitisA and on combination vaccines.

"At the moment a child has to take about 16 shots of various vaccines, what we are trying to do with combination vaccines is to combine vaccines so that a child needs to hopefully take only three or four shots," Ella explained.

The use of combination vaccines is a practical way to overcome the constraints of multiple injections, especially for starting the immunisation series for children behind schedule. The use of combination vaccines might improve timely vaccination coverage.

The company is also the only biotechnology company in the country to manufacture HibTITER (Hemophilus Influenzae B conjugate vaccine) "� a vaccine for Wyeth Lederle Limited. The company has already manufactured half a million doses of HibTITER vaccine for the market in the US. In the second phase, Bharat will manufacture HibTITER for Asian markets.

Speaking about the growth of the industry, she said, "The industry is growing at a rapid rate in our country. We have achieved global standards in production but have still a long way to go in terms of being a global player."

"With the IPR (intellectual property rights) regime fast approaching companies with patents only will be able to survive," she added.

According to Ella, it is very important for biotech companies to develop their own IPR.

"And from the next year, interdependence among nations will increase, which in turn will help the sector on the whole," she said.

Speaking about Indikinase, India's first recombinant streptokinase which is the first drug used in treating heart attacks, Ella said, "The drug is being used in the hospitals across the country. Earlier they used to import the drug, which turned out to be expensive for the patients."

Indikinase, was a patented in-house project of Bharat Biotech. The total cost, according to Ella, was around Rs 12 crore. The project was funded by the Technology Development Board. "The drug is directly sent to the hospitals and is not available in pharmacy store. The price of the drug is Rs 2,500."

BBIL has invested over Rs 100 crore in the last two-three years in expansion of the manufacturing plant at Genome Valley. Part of the funds for the expansion was from internal funding and the rest through loans from banks. Last year, the company reported a net profit of Rs 33 crore.

The company is also working on a vaccine for malaria and rotavirus. These projects are being funded by the Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) and through Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiative "� Children's Vaccine Program (CVP) via the Program for Appropriate Technologies for Health (PATH).