Zydus Cadila has received an approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) to market the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine. With this, Zydus Cadila will become the first Indian pharma firm to launch such vaccine, which will be marketed under the brand name of VaxiFlu-S.
VaxiFlu-S will be marketed by Vaxxicure, a division of the group focusing on preventives. The egg-based inactivated vaccine has been developed by the group?s researchers at its vaccine technology centre (VTC) in Ahmedabad. VTC further plans to develop a wide spectrum of vaccines against bacterial, viral and protonoal infections. With the development and launch of VaxiFlu-S, Zydus now has proven capabilities in research, development and manufacturing of safe and efficacious vaccines. The group also markets the anti-rabies vaccine and the typhoid vaccine.
Zydus Cadila CMD Pankaj Patel said, “By launching this vaccine, we would be better prepared with an affordable therapy and prevent further loss of lives to this infectious disease. The launch of Vaxi Flu-S gives thrust to our objective of emerging as a strong player in the area of preventives.”
Recent updates indicate that in India out of the 1,39,466 tested for flu-like symptoms, 23% of them tested positive for Swine flu. India has also recorded a 5% fatality rate, which is higher than the global rate. There have been incidences of H1N1 with cases being reported from Pune, Coimbatore and Chennai.