The swine flu vaccine developers in the country are seeking clarity on procurement strategy of the government to finalise their road map on the production and distribution of the vaccine, which is expected to be ready in the first half of next year. The government’s decision on procurement would enable the vaccine developers to chalk out their plans on building manufacturing capacity, finalise on inventory, draw up business and marketing plans if the need arises and take a call on issues such as what share of production could be exported or how much should be stocked up for the domestic need.
The government is yet to communicate to the H1N1 vaccine developers on the details of its plan to stockpile the vaccine. Three players? Pune-based Serum Institute of India, Delhi-based Panacea Biotec and the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech are working on developing the vaccine for H1N1 vaccine. A fourth player Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd (CPL) is working on the vaccine under a joint venture ‘CPL Biologicals Pvt Ltd’ with the US-based vaccine maker, Novavax.
About a week back, S S Jadhav, executive director, Serum Institute had said, “While we are getting calls from countries of Latin America, Africa and other regions enquiring about the vaccine, we are yet to hear from our own government on what the stockpile would be. It is important for us to know in advance what the government is planning on this front”.
When FE contacted Serum Institute, officials said that the institute is yet to hear from the government on the issue. An executive of Serum Institute said the vaccine is likely to be ready by late March-early April next year. Rajesh Jain, joint managing director, Panacea also echoed the need for government to spell out its future strategy clearly. “Since it is clear that the government wouldn’t be able to vaccinate the entire population, it should decide whether it wants to create a stockpile of vaccines and route the vaccination drive through government channels or would it want us to make the product directly available in the market. Clarity on the delivery mechanism would help us strategise on building required and desired capacities, draw up our business plans and the marketing plans if we launch the product in the market and make related preparations. The point is we should be well equipped if the second wave of the pandemic attacks us”.
Getting informed about the government’s plan would also help us plan on issues such as how much can we spare for export and how much should we be prepared to deliver for domestic needs, added Jain.
