<div><strong>CH Unnikrishnan</strong></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Hilleman Laboratories, a global vaccine development initiative set up by UK-based biomedical research charity Wellcome Trust and US-drug multinational Merck and Co., is in talks with at least a couple of Indian vaccine manufacturers and government institutions to license out its technologies, including a low-cost Meningitis vaccine and heat-stable Rotavirus vaccine. The technology transfer deals, once signed and implemented, will make the Indian companies global supplier of these novel vaccines.</div><div> </div><div>The not-for-profit vaccine research institution, headquartered in India, was set up with an objective of creating new vaccines in areas of unmet need as well as developing existing vaccines for more effective delivery in low income nations. Currently it is working on five different projects, which include a thermo-stable Rota virus vaccine, a low-cost vaccine to prevent Bacterial Meningitis, new vaccines for Cholera and E-coli induced diarrhea in children and a novel conjugate vaccine for Haemophilus Influenzae Type-b (Hib).</div><div> </div><div>“All our current projects, except Rotavirus and Cholera, are at the pre-clinical trial stage now and we have initiated talks with potential partners, including some of the leading private vaccine manufacturers and a couple of government organisations in India, for further development and commercial production," said Davinder Gill, chief executive officer, Hilleman Lab, in an exclusive interview with BW Businessworld on Monday (26 October).</div><div> </div><div>Hilleman Lab will take the diarrhea vaccines (Rotavirus and Cholera) up to clinical trial stage on its own and will license out to leading vaccine manufacturers for commercial production and marketing, Gill said.</div><div> </div><div>Gill did not disclose the names of Indian companies with whom his organisation is in talks for licensing these technologies due to confidentiality reasons.</div><div> </div><div>The new Meningitis vaccine, which is at pre-clinical test stage, is a major breakthrough as it would reduce the cost of vaccination substantially. The currently available vaccines for preventing Meningitis, a deadly disease prevalent in many parts of the world including India, are quite expensive and not really accessible to people in the poor and developing countries.</div><div> </div><div>Hilleman’s new technology for this vaccine simplifies the development process and thus helps saving development and manufacturing cost, </div><div> </div><div>The Hilleman model of low cost vaccine development through sustainable research is essential today as large commercial organisations are typically not interested in investing in such projects due to lack of commercial return. Therefore, access to live-saving vaccines for millions of people living in the developing world is affected.</div><div> </div><div>The World Health Organization estimates that 600,000 children under the age of 5 die annually due to Rota virus diarrhea and another two million are hospitalized. 90 per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries. </div><div> </div><div>Hilleman Laboratories, established in 2009, had an initial funding of Rs 700 crore equally contributed by Wellcome Trust and Merck. According to Gill, the institution’s model is to utilise this fund for its initial research projects and then to become self sustainable by transferring successful technologies to commercial organisations for making affordable vaccines.</div><div> </div><div>The Lab invests majority of its resources in the research and clinical assessment of vaccines against strains of diseases prevalent in the developing world, which bears 90 per cent of the global burden of disease. It also makes alliances with governments, policy makers, multilateral and international organizations including not-for-profit bodies, public-private sector, research and technical institutes among others to collaborate and exchange ideas to achieve this goal.</div>
