Hilleman Laboratories has entered into a collaboration with Hyderabad-based vaccine maker, Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL) for further development and commercialization of its oral cholera vaccine, Hillchol.

This collaboration is to strengthen the ability of both organizations towards prevention of Cholera through deployment of vaccine in low and middle-income countries.

Davinder Gill, Chief Executive Officer, Hilleman Laboratories said, “Availability of an affordable Cholera vaccine is particularly significant considering that more than 50 GAVI eligible countries have been categorised as Cholera-endemic.”

Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited, said, “Our capacity to deliver 50 million doses per year and the addition of a WHO pre-qualification of Hillchol will not only solve the demand uncertainty but aid in affordability.”

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by Vibrio Cholerae and has been responsible for seven pandemics till date. It is a poverty-related disease, endemic in South Asia and Africa, and is on the WHO priority list. Globally, cholera accounts for over 2.8 million cases and an estimated 95,000 deaths annually.

In India, about 30% of the population– 375 million people– remains at risk.

Hillchol was designed at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and subsequently developed by Hilleman Labs.

New Delhi based Hilleman Laboratories was established as an equal joint venture by MSD and Wellcome Trust in 2009.

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