Biotechnology company Indian Immunologicals (IIL), under the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), on Thursday announced the start of the construction of its new vaccine manufacturing plant at Genome Valley, Hyderabad. The company is investing around Rs 700 crore in this facility.

Equipped with a BSL3 (biosafety level) facility for drug substance production and a Fill-Finish capability for final vaccine products, the unit will focus on combating two major livestock diseases: Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS). The facility has the annual capacity of 150 million doses for each vaccine (totaling 300 million doses).

The new facility is expected to create over 750 direct and indirect jobs. Furthermore, its strategic location within Genome Valley positions IIL at the forefront of India’s biotechnology hub, further solidifying Hyderabad’s reputation as a global leader in vaccine innovation and production.

Commenting on this, Meenesh Shah, Chairman of NDDB stated, ‘This new facility reaffirms IIL’s dedication to its mission, playing a crucial role in eradicating FMD and HS within our country.’

K Anand Kumar, Managing Director of IIL, echoed this sentiment, stating, ‘We are at a critical growth phase and anticipate a 40 per cent increase this year alone. This facility paves the way for further investments, contributing to disease control and eradication efforts both in India and across emerging markets. The Indian Immunological Institute, a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), is working on new vaccines to treat lumpy skin disease and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus along with a combination of vaccines for protection against rabies, said Dr K. Anand Kumar, managing director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd.

“Our research and development team is working on different vaccines. We are working on various combinations of vaccine for dogs, developing vaccines for IBR in cattle which is also a very big problem in India, and developing vaccines against lumpy disease,” he said.

The pace of milk production slowed in 2022-23 due to outbreak of the lumpy skin disease among cattle. The Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Parshottam Rupala said in Parliament that the annual growth rate of milk production in the country fell to 3.83% in 2022-23 from 5.77% in 2021-22, adding that lumpy skin disease led to the decline.

Considering the demand for vaccines for veterinary diseases like foot and mouth, the IIL is expanding their manufacturing units. The IIL manufactures 300 million Foot and Mouth Disease Vaccine (FMD-Vac) as well as Foot and Mouth Disease + Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Vaccine (FMD+HS-Vac) in a year of which the major purchaser is the Union government.

“We already have a plant where we are manufacturing 300 mn vaccines and now with the new unit BSL3 facility, the capacity is going to go up by more 150 million doses/annum of FMD vaccine or FMD+HS vaccine each in a year,” added Dr Anand.

In a foot and mouth disease vaccination drive 24 crore cattle and buffaloes were covered out of 25.8 crore, reaching a near universal coverage of over 95% which is well beyond herd immunity level, as per the Union government’s figures till March.

This new commercial manufacturing facility will start at Biotech Park, Phase III, Karkapatla, Siddipet district in Telangana and the land has been allotted by Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd (TSIIC).

“Govt of India has got programme for control and eradication of foot and mouth disease which is the number one cause for loss of milk production in the country. And the vaccine is required two times in a year,” said Dr Anand.

We are also into foreign exports, currently, we are exporting to around 50 countries mostly in Asia, Africa and some of middle eastern countries.

We are on course to around 40 percent growth in sales revenues and in order to sustain this growth momentum, we need to have more infrastructure and facilities. Apart from govt, lot of cooperatives and private firms also purchase these vaccine from us, however, govt is the largest consumer of our vaccines.

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a major disease of livestock especially in cattle and buffaloes in India and causes huge economic loss to livestock owners due to a reduction in milk yield. To address the problem, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) launched the National Animal Disease Control Programme (NADCP) in 2019 which is now a part of Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme.

The program aims to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) through vaccination leading to its eventual eradication by 2030. This will result in increased domestic production and ultimately in increased exports of livestock products. Currently under this program vaccination is carried out in all cattle and buffaloes.

Source : Business Standard Dec 29th 2023 and Mint Dec 31st 2023