GSK Pharma to launch more combination vaccines

Combination vaccines are becoming popular as their use reduces risk of infection as well as the number of injections to be administered

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd is looking at launching two or three combination vaccines in India in the near future, to address a host of paediatric disease. The company is also organising programmes to spread awareness about the need of vaccination among public.

Speaking in the sidelines of an awareness meeting, Shafi Kolhapure, general manager, clinical R&D and medical affairs (Vaccines), South Asia, of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, said the company is expected to launch a four-antigen, a five-antigen and a six-antigen combination to cover several disease in a single vaccine.

"The clinical trials are already over and we are awaiting regulatory approval and we expect it to happen in a few months' time," he said.

Combination vaccines are accepted well in the non-governmental or private vaccination market, as doctors prefer them to reduce risk of infection and parents would prefer combinations since it would reduce the number of injections on the child, besides improving compliance.

Various paediatric disease vaccinations including diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus (DPT), Hepatitis B and Polio are to be addressed through these combinations, he added.

He added that while vaccination is available for various disease even among the adults, currently the focus of immunisation is mostly on the childrena even there, several more vaccines for various deadly disease has to be included in the government programmes.

Vaccination against Pneumococall disease in kids, vaccination against cervical cancer in women, which has to be administered during young age and rabies can save several lives, said consulting paediatrician Bhaskar Raju and consulting gynecologist Radha Bai Prabhu.

They said that many such vaccines could be added to the Universal Immunisation Programme of the Government of India, but the cost of the medicines are a constraint. With the price of vaccines decreases over a period of time, these vaccines would also get included in the programme, they opined. It may be noted that the government has recently launched Rotavirus vaccine in the programme on a pilot basis in a few States.