'IVC likely to become operational in TN in 8 months'

India's ambitious Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC), coming up in Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu, is expected to become operational in about eight months, health ministry sources said today.
"The Integrated vaccine complex will take another eight months time. Part of the complex is ready but work is still on," a health ministry source said.
The Centre had given its nod to the establishment of the Complex which was expected to be complete by 2016.
According to an official statement issued earlier, the complex would be the nodal center for research, manufacture and supply of vaccines at affordable prices.
The vaccines to be manufactured in the IVC, which is coming up at a cost of nearly Rs 600 crore, are pentavalent combination BCG, measles, Hepatitis B, Human Rabies, Hib and Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.

The Health Ministry source said that apart from the Central Research Institute in Kasauli, another institute in Coonoor is being "redone and re-modernised" as well.

"We are re-doing the entire thing at CRI Kasauli, we are modernising it. Although it is much delayed. Part of CRI Kasauli is still operational. The one institute in Coonoor is also being redone completely," the source said.
Giving a push to local production of hi-end medical equipment, the government recently also gave its nod to PSU HLL Lifecare to sub-lease over 300 acres of land in Chengalpattu in Chennai to set up the country's first medical devices manufacturing park.

The Medipark project will be the first manufacturing cluster in the medical technology sector in the country, envisaged to boost local manufacturing of hi-end products at a significantly lower cost, resulting in affordable healthcare delivery, particularly in diagnostic services to a large section of people.