Both will jointly develop bioneedles for vaccines against measles and rubella
Serum Institute of India and Intravacc (part of the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports) will jointly develop a novel delivery system for vaccines: bioneedles. The bioneedle, a tiny biodegradable mini implant, is a unique approach with groundbreaking potential to transform vaccination campaigns, especially in low and middle-income countries. The parties will develop bioneedles for vaccines against measles and rubella.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) confirming their collaboration was signed in the presence of Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Sigrid Kaag, Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation,Bruno Bruins, Dutch Minister for Medical Care and Sports,Hans de Boer,CEO, Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers VNO-NCW, and H.E Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, during the Netherlands Trade Mission to India recently.
The signatories were Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India and Thijs Veerman, CEO, Intravacc.
“I am happy that this MoU was signed during The Netherlands Trade mission to India. The collaboration between SII and Intravacc is a good example of a cooperation in which companies from India and The Netherlands join forces to help improve health worldwide,” said, Bruno Bruins, Minister for Medical Care of The Netherlands.
“Vaccines play a critical role in public health globally- and for Intravacc, India is a vital market for partnerships in vaccine development. This project could potentially mark a major step towards vastly improved access to vaccines, especially in low and middle-income countries. We are happy to be involved in such an innovative project with our Indian partner,” Thijs Veerman, CEO, Intravacc said.
Serum Institute of India and Intravacc will jointly develop bioneedles for vaccines against measles and rubella. Intravacc will optimise the formulation of the vaccine and preparation of the Bioneedles and freeze-drying process; Serum Institute of India will supply the MR vaccine. Both parties will search for a partner, preferably from India, for developing a suitable applicator device to administer the bioneedles.
“We are now the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by the number of doses produced. It is estimated that about 65 per cent of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute, saving millions of lives throughout the world,” says Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India.