ICMR Commits Rs 3.20 Crore To IVI For Vaccine Development In India
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), South Korea to collaborate on vaccine research and development. With this partnership, India is committing an annual contribution of US $500000 to IVI and joins Sweden and South Korea as financially contributing signatories to IVI.
“We have been working closely with IVI in India for more than a decade now. We are confident that this collaboration will elevate the vaccine R&D capacity at IVI as well as Indian Labs,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of ICMR.
IVI has been collaborating with Indian Vaccine manufactures, research institutes, government, and public health agencies on vaccine development, research, and training. One such collaboration was with Shantha Biotech, on the development of Shanchol, the world’s first low cost oral cholera vaccine. The vaccine was licensed in India in 2009 and WHO- prequalified in 2011.
IVI successfully collaborated with health authorities in Odisha State to introduce the oral cholera vaccine for the first time in India in 2011. They are in partnership with Korean, Brazilian, Indonesian and Vietnam companies as well.
Dr. Jerome H. Kim, Director General of IVI, said, “India is a vaccine industry powerhouse that supplies 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines for vaccine preventable diseases and 60-80 per cent of annual UN vaccine purchases. The signing of the MOU is a continuation of our partnership with India to provide safe, effective and affordable vaccines for people around the globe.”
“We are pleased to make some financial contribution to help IVI achieve its mission. This partnership will help us better address the vaccine needs of our children in the country and ultimately contribute to protecting people from infectious diseases,” said Manoj Jhalani, Additional Secretary and managing director of the National Health Mission, MOHFW
IVI has successful partnerships with International organizations like WHO and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. These partnerships ensure adequate production of vaccine, stockpile and prequalification of vaccines.
