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Biological E Ltd (BE) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd have entered into a collaboration for the development and delivery of affordable combination vaccines.
As part of the agreement, Takeda’s measles and acellular pertussis vaccine technologies will be transferred to the Hyderabad-based Biological E to develop low-cost combination vaccines, including diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP) and measles-rubella (MR) vaccines.
BE will commercialise the vaccine in India, China and low- and middle-income countries where large, unmet public health needs exist.
Takeda has sold both the measles and pertussis vaccines in the Japanese market for more than 20 years. In heavily populated countries like India, where 25.7 million births occurred in 2015, there is a need for these critical vaccines.
“Access to medicines is one of Takeda’s core values, and this agreement aligns with Takeda’s strategic goals to make high-impact contributions to global public health, either alone or through partners,” said Rahul Singhvi, Chief Operating Officer, Takeda Vaccine Business Unit.
The collaboration along with Takeda’s current vaccine pipeline underscores its global commitment to address important infectious diseases across the globe, he added.
BE will scale up the bulk production technology transferred from Takeda and will be solely responsible for conducting and funding development activities for the combination vaccines.
It also has the rights to use Takeda’s measles vaccine technology for a combination MR vaccine and the rights to use Takeda’s pertussis vaccine technology for any pertussis-containing combination vaccine.
In addition, it will have commercialisation rights for the MR and pertussis vaccines in India, China and selected public markets worldwide as defined in the agreement.
Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E., said: "This collaboration allows us to serve additional markets and diversify our geographic presence. In the context of MR, we look forward to contributing to the measles elimination goals and protection against rubella.”
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