Hyderabad-based biotech products manufacturer Shantha Biotechnics, in collaboration with global non-profit health organisation PATH, is developing a multivalent vaccine against rotavirus with the technology licensed from the US. | |
| The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Shantha and PATH are working in partnership to accelerate development of the new vaccine. |
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| Rotavirus is stated to be the most common cause of severe dehydrating diarrhoea responsible for more than 5.27 lakh deaths occurring annually in children under the age of 5, with majority of these in the developing countries. |
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| It is estimated that rotavirus infections account for around 26 per cent of all diarrhoea-related hospitalisations in India with most of the cases occurring during the first two years of life, the incidence peaking at 9-11 months of age. |
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| "We are excited about working on the multivalent rotavirus vaccine, which has the potential to save many lives," Varaprasad Reddy, managing director of Shantha Biotech, stated in a press release here on Tuesday. |
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| According to Reddy, there are two licensed vaccines for rotavirus, RotaTeq (Merck & Co Inc) and Rotatrix (GSK), but these are not currently available in India. PATH is working with Shantha Biotech and other emerging manufacturers to develop promising candidates into safe, effective and affordable vaccines. |
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| Stating that bringing new vaccines to market is a key component in improving affordability, Rajat Goyal, director of PATH's Advancing Rotavirus Vaccine Development project, said Shantha was selected following a rigorous assessment of its technical and business merits and for its willingness and capacity to meet the World Health Organisation's vaccine standards. |
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| Shantha expects to carry out the clinical trials in 2008 following completion of preclinical toxicology studies. |
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| The company had developed and commercialised India's first recombinant hepatitis-B vaccine and other combination vaccines with the DTP platform. Shantha's vaccines "� Shanvac-B and Shantetra, DTP-Hepatitis B "� are WHO pre-qualified and are supplied in various countries in Asia-Pacific, Africa, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Latin America by international agencies like The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). |
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