Serum Institute of India (SII) based in Pune sleepless The first pneumococcal vaccine developed in India on Monday. IBS, the world’s largest vaccine maker by dose, is also the maker of Covishield, the Indian version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine.
The pneumococcal IBS vaccine, Pneumosil, was developed through a collaboration of more than a decade with the PATH health organization and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The vaccine was launched by the Union Minister of Health, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. “This is an important milestone for the nation’s public health care that will ensure that children are better protected against pneumococcal disease with an effective vaccine,” Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on the virtual launch feature. He said the Serum Institute vaccines are used in 170 countries and one in three children in the world is immunized with one of its vaccines.
The vaccine targets pneumococcal bacteria, which cause pneumonia and other serious life-threatening illnesses such as meningitis and sepsis, and is estimated to cause nearly four lakhs of deaths in children under the age of five each year worldwide.
Pneumococcal disease is a significant contributor to the under-five mortality rate worldwide. In view of its widespread lethality, the World Health Organization recommended in 2018 the inclusion of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in routine childhood immunization programs in all countries.
The first indigenous PCV from serum will be commercially available at an affordable price in single-dose (vial and pre-filled syringe) and multi-dose (vial) presentations. While PCVs have helped reduce pneumococcal deaths, for many countries they are difficult to pay for. Pneumosil addresses the need for a more affordable option, said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of SII. Chief Executive Officer Dr. Rajeev Dhere said that Pneumosil will be available at an affordable competitive price. The unique feature of WHO-prequalified PCV is its composition, which is especially tailored to the serotype of the bacterium, S. penumoniae, in India and other regions of the world, said Dr Dhere.
Pneumosil has been extensively evaluated in five randomized controlled clinical trials and has demonstrated safety and immunogenicity comparable to licensed pneumococcal vaccines in diverse populations in India and Africa, where Pneumosil was administered to adults, young children and infants with different vaccination schedules, authorities said. According to the trials, Pneumosil was licensed by the Comptroller General of Drugs (India) in July 2020.
The vaccine also makes SII the third largest supplier of PCV in the world under the Pneumococcal Advanced Market Commitment and the first vaccine manufacturer in a developing country to access the world market for PCV.
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