The Hindu Business Line : Hyderabad cos corner bulk of IPs on vaccines

Indian companies, especially those from Hyderabad, have cornered the bulk of intellectual property (IP) on vaccines, that the National Institute of Health (NIH), United States decided to out licence during 2003-05.

Shantha Biotechnics Ltd, Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL), Biological E and Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL), are the Hyderabad-based corporates focused on using biotechnology in vaccine production, which have grabbed the know-how.

Serum Institute of India Ltd, Pune, Panacea Biotech, New Delhi and BIOMED Ltd, are the other Indian companies that have obtained the licence for the development and production of vaccines from NIH, according to a study done by the Patent Facility Centre (PFC), under the Union Department of Science and Technology (DST).

These companies have to put in substantial efforts to take the potential vaccine to the market. At the licence level, the know-how is of a very early stage. The company would get biological material and needs to pay some licensee fees as well. Thereafter it has to get the vaccine through phase-1, 2 and 3 trials and then to the market.

While Serum Institute, Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech have got the licence to develop the rotavirus human-bovine vaccine Pertussis Vaccine, Biological E is developing the rotavirus human-bovine vaccine for dengue fever. IIL has licence for a recombinant carrier proteins for conjugated vaccines, Panacea Biotech for dengue tetravalent vaccine and Biomed for Pertussis vaccine.

The NIH has also taken the route of inter-institutions to license IP. The beneficiary of this has been the Serum Institute, which has obtained know-how for the conjugated meningococcal vaccine. Once made the Institute can distribute it in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe. The licence has been achieved through the involvement of PATH and the WHO.

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), in collaboration with the Serum Institute and Biopharma, Indonesia have obtained biological materials for the conjugated vaccine against typhoid fever, which would be distributed in Asia, the study said.