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Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Nov. 15 MSD Pharmaceuticals (India), affiliate of Merck & Co, plans to launch a new vaccine every six months in the Indian market. It has a pipeline of at least four vaccines, according to Dr Naveen A. Rao, Managing Director.

In the immediate future vaccines against hepatitis A and rota virus will be brought in said, Dr Rao, after formally launching ‘Gardasil’, a preventive vaccine against cervical cancer on Friday. The company already has an adult vaccine for pneumonia in the domestic market.

MSD Pharma will pursue ‘Collaborative Research’ in partnership with Indian pharma majors and universities. It has forged partnerships with Ranbaxy, Advinus, Orchid and Nicholas Piramal already, he told Business Line.

This strategy would increase the rate of success in developing new drug, reduce both cost and time to come out with drugs to the market. The areas of collaboration at present are anti-infectives, oncology, metabolics while the future would see entry into neurology, CNS (central nervous system), Dr Rao said.

MSD Pharma’s parent, Merck & Co, US, has an annual budget for research of about $5 billion.

Asked about plans of any manufacturing for vaccines in India, Dr Rao said, “We are committed to low price, quality products to meet the market needs and would accordingly locate manufacturing to meet the objective”.

On ‘Gardasil’, he said the vaccine has been accepted in nearly 100 countries. It is the first US FDA (Food & Drug Administration) approved vaccine in India. It has been priced at Rs 2,900 a dose, with a medically prescribed course of three doses.

The company is working with the Union Ministry of Health to come out with an ‘affordable’ price for the public health initiatives so that more women are benefited. A three-year multi-centre study to test its efficacy in the Indian population with the Indian Council of Medical Research, is expected to start soon, he said.

More Stories on : Outlook | Research & Development | Pharmaceuticals

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