Panacea Biotec Ltd today said it has entered into an agreement with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) for in-licensing of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine developed by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.
'As part of the agreement, we will produce and market the vaccine in the Indian market first. As and when we meet the requirements of the domestic market and if there is extra capacity available we will also export it,' company's Joint Managing Director Rajesh Jain said.He said the vaccine would be rolled out in the market in the next 18-24 months after completing the technology transfer and would take part in the government's tender process for supply of the vaccine for eradication of FMD in India.
'Initially, we are targeting a production of about 5 million doses which will be increased by 25-30 per cent annually,' he said.
Asked if production of the FMD vaccine would require any investment from the company, he replied in the negative and said, 'this will be manufactured at our multi-product facility.' Jain said the company expected a significant contribution from the FMD vaccine to its overall topline and bottomline growth, but 'it is too early to quantify at the moment.' 'When we are near to about six months of production we should be able to finalise the pricing of the vaccine,' he added.
NRDC Chairman and Managing Director Somentah Ghosh said the organisation had also signed a similar in-licensing agreement with another Indian company but declined to disclose citing a confidentiality clause.
(Source:PTI News)
