Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday (December 28) launched the country’s first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine ‘Pneumosil’. The vaccine is being developed by Pune-based pharmaceutical company Serum Institute of India in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Health Ministry said in a statement that Serum Institute of India Private Limited (SIIPL) is currently the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by number of doses and the vaccine developed by SII are used in 170 countries.
According to the Health Ministry, SII developed and got license of the first indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) from Centre during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
“Pneumosil has been extensively evaluated in five randomised and controlled clinical trials, and has demonstrated comparable safety and immunogenicity against licensed pneumococcal vaccines across diverse populations of India and Africa, where Pneumosil was administered to adults, toddlers and infants using different vaccination schedules,” Vardhan was quoted as saying in the statement.
The statement aded that Pneumosil was found to be safe during clinical trials and the vaccine will prove effective in the prevention of pneumonia. Pneumosil was granted license by the Drugs Controller General of India in July 2020 after approval from subject expert committee (SEC).
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Health Minister said that Pneumosil is an example of India’s capability in research and development and developing important vaccines.
“In fact, it is a matter of pride for our country for this historical milestone during COVID-19 pandemic because till now we are fully dependent on Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine manufactured by foreign manufacturers which are available at very high prices,” he added.
