The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved export of the country’s first indigenously developed vaccine against malaria to the United Kingdom, reported news agency PTI quoting official sources.
The vaccine has been developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and manufactured by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Serum Institute of India (SII).
India’s drug regulator has granted permission to the SII to export two lakh doses of the malaria vaccine.
On September 27, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, SII submitted an application to the DCGI, seeking permission to export the malaria vaccine.
“SII has developed the vaccine against malaria under leadership of our CEO Dr Adar C Poonawalla. We have been relentlessly working to make available made-in-India and world-class vaccines against malaria to our country and world at large,” Singh was quoted as having said in an application, according to the PTI report.
There is currently only one vaccine against malaria available globally. The vaccine is manufactured by British biotechnology firm GSK, formerly GlaxoSmithKline.
In 2020, the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford collaborated with the SII to manufacture and develop the vaccine for large-scale supply. The Jenner Institute has designed the vaccine.
Trials were conducted on 409 children in Nanoro, Burkina Faso. The trials showed that three initial doses, followed by a booster after a year, gives up to 80 per cent protection against malaria, according to the report.
