Bharat Biotech, a city-based biotechnology company, today fixed the price for its indigenously developed Rotavirus diarrhoea vaccine, Rotavac, at $1.
The vaccine will be sold in global public markets and to governments worldwide, including UN procurement agencies, at a price of $1, according to Bharat Biotech.
The new vaccine will help prevent some of the five lakh child deaths caused each year by rotavirus diarrhoea and will improve access to better, affordable rotavirus vaccines, the company said in a statement.
The company is expecting an India licence for its vaccine in 2014 and WHO pre-qualification in 2015 for supply to UN agencies. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase III clinical development for safety and efficacy in 8,000 subjects, one of the largest such clinical trials ever conducted in India.
According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, rotavirus causes approximately 3,52,000–5,92,000 deaths each year (median-4,40,000 deaths) in children below five years of age.
Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Krishna Ella said, "Offering rotavirus vaccines at $1 price is a reaffirmation of our commitment to make vaccines affordable globally. It is a great effort by the Bharat Biotech team which made this a possibility. I am thankful to our technical and commercial teams for a decade of diligent efforts in delivering a world-class product."
"The key to our success of bringing down the cost of vaccine is our novel concepts in vaccine development and innovative manufacturing processes with Public Health in mind," Ella said.
Bharat Biotech's rotavirus vaccine development project is a public-private partnership project between the company and the Department of Biotechnology of the government of India, Gates Foundation and other national and international agencies.
Bharat Biotech has an installed capacity of 300 million doses and is well positioned to manufacture and supply Rotavac to UNICEF, PAHO and for national immunisation programmes, the company said.
