National Dairy Development Board subsidiary Indian Immunologicals (IIL) will be investing about ₹700 crore to set up a new animal vaccine manufacturing facility in Genome Valley, Hyderabad.
The proposed facility will produce vaccines for FMD (Foot and Mouth disease) and other emerging diseases. It will create employment for around 750 people, the company said on Monday after its executive leadership met Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao.
The greenfield veterinary vaccine facility is intended to be a state-of-art fully integrated biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) facility for drug substance production and respective fill-finish, said IIL, which is one of the largest manufacturers of FMD vaccine globally and a leading supplier of the vaccine to the National Animal Disease Control Programme.
An additional 300 million doses (per annum) FMD vaccine capacity will be added with the new facility, which is to be set up in the Genome Valley’s 3rd Phase. Production at the new facility is scheduled to take three years. The existing facility of the company in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, makes FMD vaccine and has a capacity of 300 million doses. The company has another manufacturing facility in Karkapatla, Genome Valley.
Welcoming the decision of IIL to set up another greenfield facility in Genome Valley, the Minister said “Hyderabad is already regarded as the ‘Vaccine Capital of the World’ and this expansion further advances our contribution in terms of global health, not just for humans but also for animals”.
Genome Valley is India’s first organised cluster for Life Sciences research and development and clean manufacturing activities, with world-class infrastructure facilities in the form of industrial/knowledge parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories and incubation facilities, the company said. It is home to more than 200 companies with a scientific workforce of about 15,000 professionals, including the presence of marquee global names such as Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Ferring Pharma, Chemo, DuPont, Ashland, United States Pharmacopeia and Lonza. It also serves as a major manufacturing hub for leading vaccines manufacturers Bharat Biotech and Biological E.
“IIL is on an aggressive growth path and this third vaccine facility in Hyderabad will ensure self-sufficiency for our country in the field of vaccines thereby saving the exchequer and farmers several thousand crore rupees,” Managing Director K. Anand Kumar said.
A market leader in veterinary and human biologicals in India, IIL manufactures over 150 products. IIL senior vice presidents Mukul Gaur and NSN Bhargav, Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan, Director (Pharma & Lifesciences) to Telangana government Shakthi M. Nagappan were present during the meeting, the release said.
