Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) announced the launch of Hillchol (BBV131), a novel single-strain Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) developed under the license from Hilleman Laboratories (funded by Merck, USA and Wellcome Trust, UK), to combat cholera.
“The vaccine can be administered orally on Day 0 and Day 14 and is suitable for individuals older than one year and is presented as a single-dose respule and should be stored between +2°C and +8°C, in a mono-multidose format, one of the first such presentations for vaccines,” the drug developer said.
“A multi-stage clinical evaluation process, culminating in a Phase III study, confirmed the vaccine’s safety, immunogenicity and non-inferiority to existing OCVs, establishing its potential for widespread public health use,” it added.
Speaking over the launch Dr Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman, Bharat Biotech, said, “HILLCHOL is an excellent success story of partnership leading to public health solutions. Our new large-scale cGMP production facilities in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar will significantly enhance our production and supply capabilities for this Oral Cholera Vaccine, advancing our efforts to combat cholera globally.”
With only one manufacturer supplying OCVs worldwide, there is a steak shortage of these drugs in the world, resulting in a yearly deficit of ~40 million doses. To mitigate this global shortage of oral cholera vaccine, Bharat Biotech has developed the vaccine through an international collaboration involving Hilleman Laboratories,, the University of Gothenburg and Gotovax AB. Furthermore it has established large-scale manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar with a capacity to produce up to 200 million doses of HILLCHOL, the company stated.
