City vet institute to get commercial
Upgraded, Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals will increase vaccine manufacturing capacity, and export its products
Set up to contain the rinderpest epidemic in 1926 by the then rulers of Mysore, the Institute of Animal Health and VeterinaryBiologicals (IAHVB) at Hebbal has now gone on to become the only government institute in southern India to obtain a commercial licence for the manufacture of veterinary drugs for several rare diseases. Flagging off the commercial production of vaccines, the labs at IAHVB were upgraded with good manufacturing practices (GMP) a few days ago. This will mean IAHVB can export its vaccines to other countries.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Dr Byre Gowda, director of IAHVB, said that GMP was crucial for any vaccine lab to be able to export or launch commercial operations. “With GMPs, our capacity and capability to produce required quantities of vaccine at one go, have increased,” he said. Out of the seven IAHVB labs, two labs manufacturing vaccines for swine flu and blue tongue disease have been upgraded with GMPs while the remaining will be GMP-certified in six months’ time at the cost of `18 crore, making it the only government-owned veterinary R&D vaccine lab in south.
The vaccines developed and manufactured here will be used not just in Karnataka, but also in Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Kerala.
Despite the presence of private players, the IAHVB has indigenously developed drugs for swine flu and the now globally-eradicated rinderpest. “Making use of the tissue culture technology initially, the rinderpest vaccine, PPR vaccine for plague and ET (enterotoxaemia) vaccine were developed and produced in large scale,” Gowda explained. The IAHVB, he said, was the first to come up with brucella vaccine for sheep, goat and cattle. The clinical trial of vaccine for blue tongue disease, commonly found in sheep, has also been completed and the institute has approached the drug controller for commercial license to manufacture it on a large scale.
IAHVB is also the only government institute to produce cell-cultured vaccines for rabies. “In 2010, we developed cell-cultured swine fever vaccine for which the Drug Controller of India has issued commercial production license now and we are preparing for its large-scale production,” Gowda briefed. The IAHVB offers vaccines at subsidised rates which are much lower than the market prices. Its rabies vaccines are ready to be exported to other countries. 500 lakh doses per year
A senior scientist explained, “Before the upgrade, we were manufacturing about 200 to 250 lakh doses annually. Now, we can produce more than 500 lakh doses of vaccine at one lab per year. Currently, we have intent from the state government for 150 lakh doses of ET vaccine by November 2015 which will be given twice a year to animals. By November 2015, about 30 lakh doses of HS (haemorrhagic septicaemia) vaccines will be delivered. Subsequently, by December and January, about 60 lakh doses of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccines and 30 lakh doses of anthrax vaccines will be supplied to various state governments across the country.”
Only lab to produce KFD for humans
According to its director, “Ours is the only veterinary lab in the world that produces human vaccine for Kyasanur forest disease that was first reported in Shivamogga. Even though the vaccine was developed by the health department, we are the official manufacturers of the vaccine.”
New R&D centre
Aimed at further strengthening its R&D wing that will help in developing vaccines for many other dreaded diseases, the IAHVB has taken up work on separate R&D centre. Drawing funds from both the state government and Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the centre is coming up at a cost of Rs.6 crore. While the civil works are completed, assembling of instrumentation panel for research will soon be taken up, according to scientist Dr Shankar. The IAHVB has also researched extensively on adjuvants that can be added to vaccines to increase the immunity level.
Set up to contain the rinderpest epidemic in 1926 by the then rulers of Mysore, the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Dr Byre Gowda, director of IAHVB, said that GMP was crucial for any vaccine lab to be able to export or launch commercial operations. “With GMPs, our capacity and capability to produce required quantities of vaccine at one go, have increased,” he said. Out of the seven IAHVB labs, two labs manufacturing vaccines for swine flu and blue tongue disease have been upgraded with GMPs while the remaining will be GMP-certified in six months’ time at the cost of `18 crore, making it the only government-owned veterinary R&D vaccine lab in south.
The vaccines developed and manufactured here will be used not just in Karnataka, but also in Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan and Kerala.
Revolution in veterinary medicine
Despite the presence of private players, the IAHVB has indigenously developed drugs for swine flu and the now globally-eradicated rinderpest. “Making use of the tissue culture technology initially, the rinderpest vaccine, PPR vaccine for plague and ET (enterotoxaemia) vaccine were developed and produced in large scale,” Gowda explained. The IAHVB, he said, was the first to come up with brucella vaccine for sheep, goat and cattle. The clinical trial of vaccine for blue tongue disease, commonly found in sheep, has also been completed and the institute has approached the drug controller for commercial license to manufacture it on a large scale.
IAHVB is also the only government institute to produce cell-cultured vaccines for rabies. “In 2010, we developed cell-cultured swine fever vaccine for which the Drug Controller of India has issued commercial production license now and we are preparing for its large-scale production,” Gowda briefed. The IAHVB offers vaccines at subsidised rates which are much lower than the market prices. Its rabies vaccines are ready to be exported to other countries. 500 lakh doses per year
A senior scientist explained, “Before the upgrade, we were manufacturing about 200 to 250 lakh doses annually. Now, we can produce more than 500 lakh doses of vaccine at one lab per year. Currently, we have intent from the state government for 150 lakh doses of ET vaccine by November 2015 which will be given twice a year to animals. By November 2015, about 30 lakh doses of HS (haemorrhagic septicaemia) vaccines will be delivered. Subsequently, by December and January, about 60 lakh doses of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccines and 30 lakh doses of anthrax vaccines will be supplied to various state governments across the country.”
Only lab to produce KFD for humans
According to its director, “Ours is the only veterinary lab in the world that produces human vaccine for Kyasanur forest disease that was first reported in Shivamogga. Even though the vaccine was developed by the health department, we are the official manufacturers of the vaccine.”
New R&D centre
Aimed at further strengthening its R&D wing that will help in developing vaccines for many other dreaded diseases, the IAHVB has taken up work on separate R&D centre. Drawing funds from both the state government and Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), the centre is coming up at a cost of Rs.6 crore. While the civil works are completed, assembling of instrumentation panel for research will soon be taken up, according to scientist Dr Shankar. The IAHVB has also researched extensively on adjuvants that can be added to vaccines to increase the immunity level.
