Bharat Biotech International Ltd has tied up with a British firm, Acambis to manufacture and market the latter's ChimeriVax, an investigational Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.

Hyderabad, Nov.9: As part of a strategy to deliver vaccines against Japanese Encephalitis in India, Bharat Biotech International Ltd., a Hyderabad-based biotechnology company, has tied up with a British firm, Acambis, to manufacture and market the latter’s ChimeriVax, an investigational JE vaccine. JE, which is caused by mosquitos infected by the virus, is widely prevalent in India, and in other South Asian countries.

Bharat Biotech will manufacture and market the vaccine, which is expected to be commercialized by June next year, in India, Dr Krishna Mohan, president of the company told reporters here on Wednesday.

He said the Phase III clinical trials of ChimeriVax JE vaccine, in which the drug tested on human, are being conducted in Australia. The drug will also undergo Phase III trials in India as well, from December, he said, before it is launched in the market. Acambis, a Cambridge-base biotechnology company, is developing the vaccine, which is aimed at countries with “endemic” JE, company officials said in a video conference from Cambridge.

Bharat Biotech will be importing the vaccine in bulk from Acambis’ manufacturing unit in the US, and will be responsible for end-stage fill/finish processing of the ChimeriVax-JE vaccine at its manufacturing unit in Hyderabad. Dr Krishna Mohan said. Bharat Biotech has a five-year agreement with Acambis for marketing the vaccine in India and eventually other countries in South Asia.

He said Bharat Biotech was taking up the manufacturing and marketing of the vaccine because there was huge shortfall of the vaccine in India. The company expects to sell one million doses in the initial stages of the marketing. Bharat Biotech and Acambis have a revenue-sharing agreement for the vaccine.