H1N1 Flu Vaccine

Article about Bharat Biotech Launches H1N1 Flu Vaccine.

Bharat Biotech announced Monday the launch of cultured cells "indigenously developed vaccine against the H1N1 influenza HNVAC brand. In a press release here, the company said this was the first indigenously developed Indian culture cells H1N1 swine influenza vaccines. It has been tested extensively in phase I, II and III clinical trials in the country and is proven safe and well tolerated. The release said it is developing the world's influenza vaccine produced in cell culture production process is sterile and control, instead of eggs.

The single dose vaccine will be priced competitively. Bharat Biotech’s CMD, Krishna Ella, said their immediate goal was to get the vaccine easily accessible and at an affordable cost to high risk groups. The key benefit of cell culture vaccine was its potential to scale up and produce large quantities when required and enabling quicker response in the event of a pandemic.

The company received the approval from Drugs Controller General of India earlier this month to launch HNVAC vaccine. It was developed with approved strains from WHO and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Atlanta. “USFDA has discouraged the use of egg-based vaccines due to adverse reactions from egg-based proteins, especially in children,” the release added. HNVAC will be made available in the private market and through government procurement agencies.