Torrent, Us Firm Tie Up For Hepatitis-B Vaccine

Ahmedabad-based drug firm Torrent has joined the rush for hepatitis-B vaccine, with a tie-up with US firm Scitech Inc to manufacture 20 million doses of the vaccine in India.

The project, Torrent Scitech (I) Pvt Ltd, with 48 per cent foreign equity will sell the vaccines in the domestic as well as foreign markets. The vaccine is based on the recombinant technology, the latest way to manufacture vaccines.

The company received foreign collaboration appr-oval last week to bring in equity worth Rs 12 crore in the Rs 25 crore project.

The foreign company is to receive a royalty of 5 per cent on internal sales, 8 per cent on exports, subject to taxes, for a seven year period of agreement, and payment of lumpsum fee of $2.25 million, paid in three instalments.

 

The domestic demand for hepatitis-B is estimated at 500 million doses per annum going by the increasing incidences of the killer disease. Health estimates put the number of hepatitis -B carriers in the country at between 4 million to 20 million.

The hepatitis-B virus remains dormant in the human body for years before striking. Once, afflicted, a patient succumbs to the disease. The government has so far allowed some six companies to manufacture hepatitis-B vaccines in the country including Smith Kline Beecham, Shantha Biotech, Panacea Biotech.

Hepatitis-B vaccines are very expensive at present, in the Rs 500 range and the government wants to bring down the price to around Rs 100 so that it was affordable. The other form of hepatitis, hepatitis-A, too is incurable but is usually not fatal. There are several remedies for it in the Indian system of medicine. However, hepatitis-B cure defies even Ayurveda.