Thursday, January 23, 2014

India vaccine news - New Indian Rotavirus vaccine Rotavac by Bharat Biotech to be launched soon

As per available information (personal communication) ROTAVAC - the long awaited fully indigenous Rotavirus vaccine (116 E, Live attenuated) created by teh team of Dr Suraj Bhan, AIIMS< new Delhi, will be launched by around April 2014 by Bharat Biotech.
The estimated price is likely to be around 500 Rs, which will be 50 % cheaper than the existing imported Rotavirus vaccines in the market.
Another huge advantage would be that we would finally have Indian studies that would clearly establish the efficacy in our children. 

Annually in India, rotavirus diarrhoea causes an estimated 122,000-153,000 deaths, 457,000 to 884,000 hospitalizations, and 2 million outpatient visits in children <5 2.0-3.4="" 41-72="" against="" age.="" annually="" billion="" costs="" diarrhoea.="" equivalent="" font="" in="" india="" interventions="" medical="" million="" nbsp="" of="" rotavirus="" rs="" specific="" spends="" such="" the="" to="" treat="" us="" use="" years="">as newly available vaccines, would help prevent much of this large disease and economic burden. Reference
The same vaccine will also be supplied to the Government of India at a price point of USD 1 according to sources.
This will open up the diarrhea vaccine market in much the same way Engerix vaccine opened up the Hepatitis B vaccine market in India, and would be a welcome development. 

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