Indian rotavirus vaccine found effective during clinical trial

Rotovac costs fifty times less than brands sold by global pharma companies

A vaccine against rotavirus infection, developed in India as a low-cost alternative to available vaccines, has shown positive results in Phase III clinical trials. Rotavirus is the most severe and lethal cause of childhood diarrhoea, and is responsible for the death of approximately 100,000 small children in India each year. The vaccine, Rotavac, developed as part of a public-private partnership endeavour, will cost about 50 times less than currently available vaccines.

Rotavac has been developed by the department of biotechnology (DBT) of the science ministry of the government of India and private sector company Bharat Biotech. The results of the Phase III clinical trials were announced Tuesday.

Rs 50 a dose

Bharat Biotech announced that each dose of Rotavac will be sold for Rs 50, and the company will file for registration for the vaccine in India soon. Once licensed by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), the vaccine will become available in the market as a much more affordable alternative to existing vaccines.

Deadly virus

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea and dehydration in infants and young children. The virus is found everywhere, and nearly every child in the world is at risk of infection

Each year, approximately 453,000 children under the age of five worldwide die from severe, dehydrating diarrhoea due to rotavirus infection—37 percent of all deaths attributable to diarrhoea. India suffers the highest mortality burden of rotavirus among all countries; the country alone accounts for 22 per cent of deaths caused by rotavirus, globally

Rotavirus kills approximately 100,000 children in India each year. The heaviest toll is on the youngest among them; approximately 50 per cent and 75 per cent of rotavirus-associated deaths in India occur between 1 and 2 years of age, respectively.

The toll from the illness caused by rotavirus is also significant. A study by the Indian Rotavirus Surveillance Network found that over a two-year period, from 2005 to 2007, rotavirus was responsible for approximately 39 per cent of diarrhoea-related inpatient hospital visits

Based on these and other data, it is estimated that rotavirus leads to 457,000-884,000 hospitalizations and two million outpatient clinic visits each year in India—healthcare costs, Rs 2 to 3.4 billion

Rotovac and other vaccines

Diarrhoea