Shantha Biotechnics, a Sanofi group company, today said its paediatric pentavalent vaccine Shan5, developed and manufactured indigenously, has received prequalification status from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The status qualifies Shan5 vaccine for purchase by United Nations agencies, mainly UNICEF, said Harish Iyer, Shantha CEO in a media briefing here.
"Shan5 prequalification will give more children around the world access to the latest high-quality, fully-liquid, 5-in-1 vaccine and help secure the supply of pentavalent combination vaccines in over 50 emerging and low-income countries," Iyer said.
Pentavalent vaccine provides effective protection for children from 6 weeks of age against five diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hib and hepatitis B.
Replying to query, he said Sanofi has invested over Rs 1,000 crore in Shantha since its acquisition in 2009.
He said the demand for the vaccine is around 200 million vials and the company is expecting to garner good chunk of market share in future.
An earlier version developed by the vaccine maker was recognised by WHO and the company sold 18 million doses between 2008 and 2010. However, it was later withdrawn due to some issues in the sedimentation of the vaccine.
Varaprasad Reddy, founder of Shantha Biotechnics and Non-Executive Chairman of the board said they are committed and focused to the priority and passion which is to serve people through high quality, affordable vaccines.
