<div><strong>C H Unnikrishnan</strong><br><br>Cipla, one of India's top generic drug makers, and the country's largest vaccine exporter Serum Institute of India has signed a marketing and distribution partnership for South African market. With this, Cipla's South African subsidiary Cipla Medpro will partner with the vaccine maker for not only enable affordable and accessible vaccines for South Africans, but will also facilitate a reliable supply stream to the South African Government. </div><div> </div><div>“This agreement will enable Cipla Medpro to become a significant player in the market," said Paul Miller, chief executive officer of Cipla Medpro.</div><div> </div><div>With a presence in 140 countries and 1.3 billion doses manufactured and sold, SII is an ideal ally for Cipla Medpro and this partnership will be instrumental in addressing the national vaccine shortage, he added.</div><div> </div><div>Serum Institute currently manufactures a variety of vaccine classes including vaccines for Polio, Diphtheria, Tetanus, BCG (Tuberculosis), Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella. South Africa will be participating in the majority of these vaccine programmes. </div><div> </div><div> According to Michel Baijot, head of vaccines at Cipla, this partnership reflects again the complementarities of our two like-minded companies in bringing high quality, affordable vaccines to more countries. </div><div> </div><div>The partnership agreement also stipulates that Cipla Medpro will become the holder of all Medical Control Council (MCC) regulatory approvals such as product registrations and marketing authorisations. Cipla Medpro has exclusivity and first right of refusal of the SII pipeline within South Africa. </div><div> </div><div>On the agreement, Serunm Institutue chief executive Adar Poonawalla, said; “Serum Institute is looking to extend the strong partnership that it has with Cipla in Europe and India by working with Cipla Medpro in South Africa.” </div><div> </div><div> </div>
