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Global regulators and leading vaccine makers may soon finalise international standards to evaluate Sabin Inactivated Polio Vaccine (sIPV).
About 15 global vaccine makers and 20 representatives of regulators including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) are sharing results and experiences of developing sIPV in a two-day conference which began here on Wednesday.
Oral polio
As of now, Oral Polio Vaccine is being used to fight polio. But it can cause circulating and virulent vaccine derived polio viruses.
Hence, nearly 18 vaccines makers across the globe including India are now in various stages of developing the sIPV , Kutub Mahmood, Project Director, Polio Vaccine Development and Scale-up Project, PATH told newspersons in a press conference here.
China and Japan have already licensed the sIPV product. In India, Bharat Biotech, Indian Immunological Ltd, among others have been working on developing the vaccine, he said.
Pricing challenge
Others who are working in this area include Beijing Minhai Biotech, Institute of Medical Biology, Kunming, China, and National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, England.
The cost of the sIPV will be a challenge for affordable pricing. While OPV costs 14 cents per dose, sIPV may cost above $1. “We are working on bringing down the cost in consultation with the vaccine-makers,’’ he added.
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