H1N1 Vaccine Renewed in India

Indian drug manufacturers such as Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotech and Serum Institute have resumed production of the swine flu vaccine as the H1N1 pandemic has again become a potential threat. This came in response to an anticipated increase in demand following the deaths of 21 people and the 281 patients that tested positive for H1N1 virus over the last few months in India.

Indian vaccine manufacturing companies had reported a decrease in H1N1 vaccine sales in 2011 – only 233 reported swine flu cases compared with 46,000 cases in 2010. Zydus Cadila. the Ahmedabad-based drug manufacturer, was one of the few companies which flourished as a result of its H1N1 vaccine production. Following decreased global demand since the 2009 worldwide epidemic, last year the company was forced to stop production of the vaccine.

However, after the recent increase in H1N1 incidence in India, the Indian Health Ministry ordered the production of two million doses of the vaccine from Panacea Biotech (according to company representatives). Despite the relative increase in demand for the vaccine, some Indian companies, such as India’s sole manufacturer of nasal swine flu vaccine, the Serum Institute, are tentative about scaling up production. Following the initial serge in 2009 when companies could not produce enough vaccine to keep up with the demand, the Serum Institute was forced to destroy two million doses last year. As a result of this experience, they have limited their production to 200,000 doses this year.