Breakthrough research to make Hib vaccine affordable

Global vaccine research and development organisation Hilleman Laboratories (HL) today claimed to have made a break-through research on an affordable vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), offering hope to millions of children and needy people.
Hilleman Laboratories announced the publication of an original scientific report in the journal 'Vaccine' based on the success of a pre-clinical trial conducted for the vaccine.
Hib is a bacterium that causes diseases like pneumonia and meningitis, which are the leading causes of child deaths in India, accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the global death figures, the company said in a statement.

"The unique formulation derived from the ongoing research will not only bring down the cost of the vaccine, but will also provide a scalable platform for commercial manufacturing," it said.
HL CEO Dr Davinder Gill said, "Capsular polysaccharide conjugates of Hib are important components of several mono-or multivalent vaccines for children. However, the access to needy people is limited due to the relative high cost of the Hib vaccine."
This new formulation will be a step towards developing a cost-effective and a more immunogenic vaccine, Gill said adding this will make Hib vaccine accessible and affordable.

"We have already completed the pre-clinical immunogenicity trial phase which has shown predictive results.

"Our next step now would be to look at collaboration with like-minded stakeholders who can work together towards cost effective solutions with the aim of bridging existing gaps in a significant way," said Dr Gill.
"It was also found that the new formulation was four to 10 times more potent when compared to the existing licensed vaccines," Dr Manoj Kumar Chhikara, Head of the Conjugate Vaccines Research and Development program at HL, claimed.
The unique cost-effective formulation developed by the company will significantly reduce the cost of Hib vaccine, which in turn, will help in reducing the market price of the pentavalent vaccine, thus making it accessible to a larger number of people, the release said.

HL, which operates on a not-for-profit principle, is a first-of-its-kind joint-venture partnership formed between global research-driven pharmaceutical organisation Merck & Co and Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to human and animal health by supporting the brightest minds.