 "Sanofi launches Made in India ShanIPV polio vaccine")
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Further to India’s introduction of IPV in Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, yesterday launched ShanIPV, an injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). ShanIPV, a trivalent inactivated, injectable polio vaccine, will be ‘made in India’ by Sanofi Pasteur’s affiliate Shantha Biotechnics Private Limited in Hyderabad.
Declared as a polio-free nation in 2014, heralding a great victory over the disease, India’s current war will be waged against its re-emergence. This is where ShanIPV, manufactured through technology transfer from Sanofi Pasteur, will make its contribution. India is now poised to progress to the next and final step of polio eradication, the final elimination of all vaccine-related and vaccine-derived polio viruses. This step will secure the future of millions of children in India.
Dr Shailesh Ayyangar, managing director - India and vice president - South Asia, Sanofi, commented on the launch said, “Today, we are proud to further strengthen our commitment towards disease prevention and support the Indian Government’s Universal Immunisation Programme - including polio eradication. With the introduction of IPV in the immunisation schedule, our Company is playing a key role in achieving the goal of a polio-free world.”
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Only two countries in the world are still classified as polio endemic, meaning that wild polio virus passes routinely between members of the community. However, great progress has been made in both countries and the last case of polio in the world may possibly be only months away. India has had a very strong focus on polio eradication and this move to introduce IPV in the UIP will provide the required impetus for a polio free India.
Dr Mahesh Bhalgat, executive director & chief operating officer, Shantha Biotechnics, India said, “Towards the polio eradication programme, we will manufacture massive quantities of high-quality, safe and efficacious IPV vaccine to meet all the milestones in the timeline set by the Indian government.”
The first step (trivalent bulk preparation), involved in the manufacturing of ShanIPV, is carried out in Sanofi Pasteur’s Marcy l’Etoile site in France, while the final step (formulation, filling and packaging) is performed by Shantha in its facilities in Hyderabad.
