Shalini Gupta – New Delhi
In a first of its kind public private partnership fostering medical innovation, ROTAVAC, a rotavirus vaccine developed jointly by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with its various partners has demonstrated positive results from a phase III clinical trial.
The vaccine holds significant importance for India in the light of data from ICMR which indicates that 40 per cent of all diarrhoeal admissions are caused by Rotavirus leading to the death of 10,000 children annually. Not only does the vaccine reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by more than half during the first year of the child’s life, it demonstrates protection against all strains of rotavirus, continuing into the second year.
The monovalent vaccine originated from an attenuated (weakened) strain of rotavirus isolated from an Indian child at AIIMS 1985-86. DBT, Bharat Biotech, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Stanford University School of Medicine, and PATH have worked tirelessly since then towards its development. Bharat Biotech which has invested Rs 60 crores in the project would be applying for the license of the vaccine to DCGI by July informed Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech.
“There is a lot of weariness surrounding vaccines, however, nothing compares with them when it comes to deliverability. This effort is a testament to the fact that India can take a leadership role in producing low cost vaccines,” said Dr M K Bhan, Advisor to the Indian Academy of Pediatrics and former DBT Secretary. Currently GSK and Merck are the only two companies selling the vaccine at around Rs 2500 per dose. The Indian vaccine is slated to come to the market somewhere in 2014 and would be priced at Rs 50 for one dose.