PROMOTED by US-returned Dr Krishna Ella and his associates, Bharat Biotech Ltd., is yet another example of how the reverse the brain drain can work wonders for the common Indian.

The company began production exactly an year back to the day and came into the market with Revac-B, a hepatitis-B vaccine, the first recombinant vaccine for the dreaded disease from saccharomyces cerevisiae. Significantly, the company is currently pursuing research India's first DNA vaccine for Malaria.

The initial capacity of eight million doses has increased to over 100 million doses, perhaps the largest in Asia and the Pacific region, an indicator of the product's success.

"We are committed to self reliance in the indigenous production of vaccines and other vital biologicals," says Ella talking of his commitment to low priced vaccines for the region.

"Our goal is to bring international technology expertise and tolls to solve our domestic issues at an affordable cost than can teach even our rural population", he says, addid that Bharat Biotech is also seeking a viable alternative remedies for infectious diseases endemic to the Asia region.

The Facility
The state-of-the-art plant is built up on a 60,000 sq.ft. area with completely controlled conditions conforming to the USFDA, UK-MCA and WHO specifications.

R&D
Bharat Biotech is also setting up an R&D centre in the campus of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and developing a third generation vaccine - the first of its kind in the world with funding from the Department of Science & Technology of Government of India.