Biological E to launch hepatitis-B vaccine `Bevac` in three months

Hyderabad: Biological E, the first private pharmaceutical and vaccines manufacturing company in the south has received permission of Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) for commercial manufacture of recombinant hepatitis-B vaccine 'Bevac'. The company will launch the product in the next three months.

According to N Eswara Reddy, vice-president of Biological E said that the company had approached GEAC in September 2003 after completing all the clinical trials on the vaccine. GEAC gave its permission for the vaccine on June 10 this year.

Reddy said the company would be launching new products in the antibiotics segment in the next couple of months.

The product range of Biological E includes bulk drugs, sera and vaccines, oncology, biological and formulations (branded and generic).

Reddy said the company is setting up a large new vaccines manufacturing facility in the second phase of Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park in the city and the facility would manufacture combination vaccines like DPT and Hepatitis B. He said Biologiocals E was planning to enter overseas markets and supply its vaccines to with its international institutional purchasers such as Unicef.

Thus the new plant would be made to comply with the standards of regulatory bodies like WHO-GMP, USFDA, UK-MHRA, Australia-TGA etc, besides the Indian Schedule M-GMP.