AsianScientist (Nov. 15, 2011) – India produces 60 percent of the world’s vaccines and accounts for 60-80 percent of annual UN vaccine purchases, said Dr. Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences, speaking yesterday at the opening ceremony of International Vaccine Symposium in Surajkund.

Dr. Kumar said that several Indian vaccine manufacturers are WHO pre-qualified, and that the current Indian vaccine market is estimated at around US$900 million. The vaccine market is poised to grow 23 percent during 2011-2012 and targets US$4.6 billion revenue by 2017, he said.

The Minister described some indigenously developed novel vaccines that today are either commercialized or are near commercialization, such as vaccines for meningococcal meningitis, rotavirus, H1N1, and Japanese B Encephalitis.

New schemes such as the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) and Biotechnology Industry Partnership Program (BIPP) started by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have also helped to encourage new players, he said.

Referring to 2010-2020 as the “Decade of Innovation,” Dr. Kumar said innovation in vaccine R&D and endeavors towards affordable health care must live up to Gandhi’s commandment of practicing science with humanism.

These innovations, he said, will help address other challenges facing the country like food and nutrition, climate and environment, energy, and affordable housing.

The Minister described current efforts by scientists at the DBT-supported International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) on malaria and dengue vaccines.

Other milestones include the establishment of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) at Faridabad and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) partnered HIV vaccine Design Center.

“The low pricing has been possible due to social innovation, Public Private Sector Partnership programs and competition amongst the Indian and other Developing country manufacturers. Bharat Biotech’s Rotavirus vaccine and Serum Institutes Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccine was developed is as an example of this arrangement. The National Rural Health Mission efforts are beginning to show results with steady increases in coverage of routine EPI vaccine,” he said, describing breakthroughs in vaccine development.

Dr. Kumar stressed the need for collaborations across national boundaries.

“We have correctly valued global partnerships with agencies like the IAVI, National Institute of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as it has helped mobilization of global talent and working together of best scientists to serve our nation’s future public health needs,” he said.

Dr. Kumar also said that greater efforts needed to be made to develop vaccines for cancer and non-communicable diseases.

The International Vaccine Symposium, devoted exclusively to research on vaccines and associated technologies for disease prevention and treatment through immunization, is the first of its kind in India.

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Source: Press Information Bureau, Government of India.

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