Biovet plans mega FMD, brocellosis vaccine facilities

: Biovet, a veterinary vaccine research, development and manufacturing company, Thursday announced that it has embarked on a major expansion plan to create worlds largest foot and mouth disease (FMD) and brocellosis vaccine facilities at Malur in Kolar district of Karnataka.

"Expansion of our FMD vaccine facilities to deliver 200 million doses is an important step to increase our contribution to meet the shortage of this vaccine in the country. We are also excited to announce construction of a new state-of-the-art brucella vaccine production facility at the Malur site is underway to produce 100 million doses of Brucella vaccine per year," companys founder Dr Krishna Ella said.

The company said that Indias foot and mouth disease control programme requires 1,000 million doses each year, whereas the current production capacity manufactured in the country is around 500 million doses.

There is an unmet need for 500 million doses, andBiovetaims to fulfill this gap through the planned expansion.

Vice-president of Biovet Dr Panduranga Rao claimed that the companys plant is the first BSL-3PlusAg production facility established in Asia and secondin the world.

He added that its independent production lines for three separate serotype FMD viruses, on completion will be the first of its kind in the world.

The new facility for Brucella Vaccines will placeBiovet, as the worlds largest manufacturer of this vaccine, Dr Rao said.

The highly contagious foot and mouth disease among livestock results in decrease in milk production, delayed conception and reduced growth rate, the company said.

Brocellosis, another disease among livestock too causes losses and abortion, the company said adding that human beings too get affected by it.

Founded in 2006, Biovet aims at increasing its vaccine delivery, multiple animal vaccines testing and challenge studies in Malur, the company said in a statement.

The objective is to benefit small farmers, whose livelihood depend on cattle, and dairy farming when agriculture farming becomes difficult for them, the statement said.