The CMD of Hyderabad-based Bharath Biotech Krishna Ella on Tuesday said the company had started the process to sequence the Indian H1N1 virus to ascertain any mutations. The process to identify the virulence of swine flu virus, genotyping it and collecting large number of samples from swine flu positive patients in India has already begun by a group of researchers and microbiologists from Ella Foundation.
“To be very honest, this is not our work and this should be done by government institutions like ICMR and NIV. Before blindingly developing a vaccine, there is a need to understand the virology behind the swine flu virus in India. Earlier, even before the Government could do, we were the first to sequence Chikungunya virus. We have to understand the situation first,” Dr. Ella said while interacting with press persons on Tuesday.
In order to deal with outbreaks, the drug manufacturing company is also in the process of building an inventory of bulk vaccines so that in future the response time is reduced. According to the CMD, it takes at least a minimum of three months to manufacture a vaccine and involves a lot of planning.
“We are constantly in touch with the Government over H1N1 vaccine and hoping that the authorities too would reach out to drug manufacturing companies like ours before the seasonal outbreaks,” Dr. Krishna Ella said.
The top drug manufacturer lamented that viral outbreaks among tribal population, especially in Telangana, are going unnoticed. “There is Chandipura virus that is becoming quite common among tribal population. Young children in tribal families are dying within hours but we are not able to explain the reasons for it. There is a need for Government and private institutions to collaborate in such issues,” Dr. Ella felt.
In an attempt to make the human body respond to vaccines, Bharat Biotech is pursuing an ambitious Vaccine Adjuvant Programme. The drug manufacturing company is collaborating with Director, Emory Vaccine Centre, United States, Dr. Rafi Ahmed in this programme. Adjuvants are used to improve the body’s immune response to vaccines and are usually added to vaccines to improve body immunity, Dr. Krishna explained.
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