Hyderabad, Jan24: Bharat Biotech International Ltd, a biotechnology product manufacturer, has begun research on a rabies vaccine and a recombinant human Epidermal Growth Factor, the company's chairman and managing director, Krishna M Ella, said on Monday. EGF is a polypeptide growth factor which stimulates the proliferation of a wide range of epidermal and epithelial cells, while recombinant Human EGF is a 6.2 kDa protein containing 53 amino acid residues.

Dr Ella said BBIL, whose manufacturing unit was recently given approval by the Korean Food and Drugs Administration, said the company was keen on developing a rabies vaccine because the products currently available in the market were still beyond the reach of the poor in India. "Most of the victims of dog bites are the poor, who cannot afford the imported vaccines or Indian brands," he said.

He said BBIL was also working on developing the hEGF, but he declined to gie details about the status of the rabies vaccine or other products. However, he said that BBIL has started clinical trials on the rotavirus vaccine.

According to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control in the US, Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea among children. BBIL had received grants totalling $12 million from six organisations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for developing the rotavirus vaccine.

Dr Ella said the Korean FDA approval would allow the company to manufacture and export human vaccines to Korea, one of the regulated markets for pharmaceuticals.