Friday 19 January 2018

Historic Deal Signed between Panacea Biotec & Serum Institute of India



Under the collaboration, broadly the following will be achieved: -
Serum Institute of India will ensure supply of IPV bulk to Panacea Biotec, an important constituent of the Hexavalent vaccine, from its wholly owned subsidiary BBIO, a bioengineering and pharmaceutical company, registered in The Netherlands having technology and expertise for making the IPV, earlier possessed by only 3 other vaccine manufacturers in the World.
In next 2 years both SII and PBL will work together to get this wP-IPV based Hexavalent Vaccine introduced in the National Immunization Program of Government of India anddeveloping countries by working closely with key stakeholders including but not limited to National Governments, World Health Organization(WHO), Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunization (GAVI), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and other United Nation Agencies, etc.


Global demand of IPV/ IPV containing vaccines is estimated to rise significantly from ~100 Million in the year 2020 till supply constraints remain, to 250-350 Million doses every year starting 2022 depending upon a two or three dose schedule as Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization in April 2017 has recommended at least 2 doses of IPV in the routine Immunization schedule of the countries post OPV withdrawal.

Here it is important to note that there has been a global supply constraint of IPV since early 2015 and only 52% of projected supply had been delivered to UN agencies as a result of which 18 Countries could not introduce IPV in their immunization & 15 had interruptions out of 70 IPV eligible countries approved for GAVI support.

A beaming Mr Adar C. Poonawalla, C.E.O. & Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, said, “It is an historic deal where in two major vaccine Companies in India have come forward to join hands to address unmet needs of both Private & Public Market globally. With the convenience of ‘Six in one’ it has potential of over 250 million doses in next 3-4 years with a market size of over $1.25 Billion annually.”

Mr R K Suri, Senior Advisor, who orchestrated the mega deal between two big Vaccine players said, “It marks beginning of a new Era in vaccine landscape and heralds a new business model, ‘Collaborate yet Compete!’.”

About Panacea Biotec:
Panacea Biotec Limited is a leading research based biotechnology company with established research, manufacturing and marketing capabilities.  It is one of the largest vaccine producers and Biotechnology Companies in India.
Panacea Biotec is the first company to have developed World’s first fully-liquid Quadravalent Vaccine Easyfour-TT (DTwP-Hib) Pentavalent Vaccine Easyfive-TT (DTwP-HepB-Hib), monovalent Polio vaccine against Type 1 and Type 3 Polio virus and World’s First Fully Liquid whole cell Pertussis (wP) based Hexavalent Combination Vaccine, EasySix.TM
The Company is also amongst the top 15 pharmaceutical companies (AIOCD AWACS-MAT MAR-2017) in its represented market India and amongst top 60 pharmaceutical Companies in India. The Company has been awarded with the prestigious “India Innovation Award 2016 – Top 50” by Clarivate Analytics.
The product portfolio of includes highly innovative products in therapeutic areas of oncology, organ transplantation, nephrology, diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular diseases and pediatric vaccines. It is working on a robust pipeline of high barrier to entry generics products, thus leveraging its capabilities in the areas of nanotechnology and platform drug delivery technologies like micro-particles, liposomes, gastroretentive systems.
The Company has research collaborations with leading national and international research organizations and corporations. The company's state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities for vaccines and pharmaceutical formulations comply with several leading regulatory agencies worldwide. The company has around 2,500 employees including around 100 scientists working across 4 R&D centers of the Company.

About Serum Institute of India:
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. is now the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.3 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines. It is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. Vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in around 170 countries across the globe in their national immunization programs, saving millions of lives throughout the world.
Serum Institute of India is ranked as India's No. 1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized lifesaving biologicals like vaccines using cutting edge genetic and cell based technologies, antisera and other medical specialties.
Serum Institute of India was founded in 1966 by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla with the aim of manufacturing life-saving immuno-biologicals, which were in shortage in the country and imported at high prices. Thereafter, several life-saving biologicals were manufactured at prices affordable to the common man and in abundance, with the result that the country was made self-sufficient for Tetanus Anti-toxin and Anti-snake Venom serum, followed by DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) group of Vaccines and then later on MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) group of vaccines.
The Philanthropic philosophy of the company still not only exists but has been proliferated to bring down the prices of newer vaccines such as Hepatitis-B vaccine, Combination vaccine etc., so that not only Indian's, but the entire under-privileged children of the world are protected from birth onwards.

Thursday 4 January 2018

Exide Launches Epiq Battery With 6-year Warranty

Exide Launches Epiq Battery With 6-year Warranty

Exide Industries Ltd, South Asia’s largest lead acid storage battery maker today launched a new range of automotive batteries in the Indian market branded Epiq. The battery comes with a 6-year warranty – the highest in the Indian market, showing the company’s confidence in its cutting edge technology.
“As the Indian automotive market matures and new generation cars become more demanding with a slew of electrical gadgets putting more load on the vehicle’s electrical system, the battery has to live up to the expectations of the modern auto enthusiast and keep pace with this changing trend. We sourced the best technology in the world to make a battery that will last for a long time in the Indian conditions. Epiq takes the automotive battery technology in the country to the next generation” said Mr Gautam Chatterjee, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Exide Industries Ltd.
Epiq hits the Indian streets after months of field trials by Exide in the trying Indian conditions. Technology has been adopted and adapted to suit the local requirements and unique ways of Indian driving realities like bumper to bumper jams and potholed roads.
While the Epiq will be manufactured in Exide’s cutting edge factories across the country, it will be sold exclusively through its national network of 1500 premium Exide Care outlets.
“We put our unique knowledge of operating for seventy years in the Indian market to bring out the Epiq. It will soon set a benchmark in the Indian battery industry,” said Mr Subir Chakraborty, Director Automotive, Exide Industries Ltd.
Epiq, which is positioned and targeted at the highest end of the automotive battery aftermarket, will be available in full range for cars and SUVs operating in the Indian market. It will be the most premium vehicular battery from Exide.
While Epiq will be the flagship sub-brand of Exide, the company also launched a slew of other products targeted at the other segments of the automotive battery aftermarket. Anticipating the needs for a high performance battery at an affordable price, Exide also launched Exide Gold with 18-month warranty for the entire range of four-wheelers. For the commercial and metered taxi market it launched a competitively priced Exide Cabby. 
About Exide:
Exide Industries Ltd is the country’s largest manufacturer of lead acid storage batteries and power storage solutions provider. With seven international standard factories spread across the nation for producing batteries, the company offers one of the widest ranges of batteries for every conceivable application in automotive as well as industrial segments. To complete the entire value chain the company has two captive lead smelting units and two UPS manufacturing facilities. Exide also has manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka and does business globally through its subsidiaries and international
affiliates. Exide’s products are sold globally, particularly in developed markets like Australia, Japan and Western Europe, under its own brand names. Exide’s strong brand pull, established in India for about a
hundred years, is supplemented by its nationwide dealer network and a very strong R&D center. With the help of its collaborators – Shin Kobe and Furukawa of Japan and East Penn of the US - Exide has
consistently remained at the cutting edge of international battery technology and introduced various pioneering products and power storage solutions in the Indian and global markets. Exide’s vast product range, that includes everything from the smallest UPS batteries to the giant submarine batteries, find applications in automotive, two-wheelers, inverters, UPS, power, telecom and railways, among others. Exide is also present in the non-conventional energy business where it designs and integrates solar and wind power solutions for use in remote areas of the country. Exide’s customer list includes some of the top most international names in industries as diverse as automotive, earth moving equipment, telecom and UPS manufacturers. With an annual total income of Rs 8702.53 crore (as on 31st March 2017), the company is the largest among the branded lead acid storage battery businesses in India. The company has been consistently profitable and paying dividend every single year since its inception.