The Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) recently facilitated the licensing of Shigella Vaccine technology, developed by National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata through ICMR support to MSD-Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

The licensing ceremony of Shigella Vaccine technology was held on 23rd of April 2019 at ICMR headquarters, New Delhi in presence of Dr. Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR & Secretary DHR and Dr. Chandra Shekhar, Addl DG, ICMR.

Professor Balram Bhargava, Secretary, Department of Health Research, (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare), Government of India and Director General, ICMR, said that it is a major step to pave the way for development of the first indigenous Shigella vaccine. He expressed commitment of ICMR in extending all support for expeditious development and commercialization of cost-effective vaccine based on the technology for the benefit of mankind.

As per a recent market report, Shigella vaccine market is expected to reach USD 50.42 billion by 2023 from USD 34.45 billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 6.7%. The market size for this vaccine is approximately 2.3 billion globally and 19.8 million in India based on the number of children in the age of 0-6. Till date there is no licensed vaccine for Shigellosis and treatment options are diminishing due to increasing resistance to key antimicrobials.

In this scenario, vaccines are the only effective tool to fight against the disease. A group of researchers from NICED have developed a unique, broad spectrum vaccine against Shigellosis with effectiveness against 50 serotypes of Shigella to address the unmet market need of this vaccine.

The licensed Shigella vaccine candidate has shown significant immune response and protective efficacy against the infection during challenged studies in various animal models, Dr. Hemanta Koley, lead inventor of the vaccine added. Dr. Davinder Gill, CEO of the Hilleman Labs said that they are pleased to collaborate with ICMR and NICED for developing an affordable vaccine for shigellosis suitable for Low Middle Income Countries (LMIC). He briefly described Hilleman’s plan for further scaling up of the vaccine and making it accessible to shigellosis affected regions of the world.

Dr. Purnima Sharma, Managing Director, BCIL said that this collaboration brings together four institutes with complementary strengths and they are pleased to provide necessary assistance to the stakeholders in achieving the timelines for commercialization of this much-needed vaccine.

The licensed Shigella vaccine candidate has been developed through support from ICMR, Okayama University, Japan and National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan. The translation of the licensed Shigella vaccine candidate to a market ready product will involve a stringent pre-clinical and clinical development pathway before it reaches the market.

The shigella vaccine, developed by NICED-ICMR is expected to have a huge impact by largely benefiting children living in developing countries and in low-income and middle-income settings.