Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board, is developing a vaccine for Chikungunya.

"Currently, no vaccine is available for Chikungunya anywhere in the world. IIL is developing a vaccine for this disease using a virus strain isolated by a laboratory in the US," KV Balasubramaniam, managing director of IIL, said in a press release on Thursday.
For the for the first time in the country, IIL is also developing a live vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis virus (JEV) infection, by producing the virus in cell culture, instead of using mouse brain for growing the virus. The inactivated JEV vaccine is thus a safer one, he added.

Right now, both the vaccines are undergoing pre-clinical toxicology studies.

During the outbreak in 2006, over 7,4000 cases of Chikungunya were reported in Tamil Nadu and Orissa alone.

And, mortality is high for JEV infection too. In 2011, Uttar Pradesh reported over 5,000 cases of JEV with 376 deaths.

"We are expecting to enter human trials in the next six to 12 months and commercialise within 24-36 months. Once approved, the company intends to manufacture these products at its facility that is being constructed in Karakapatla on the outskirts of Hyderabad," said Ramesh Mathur, general manager (research and development).

With the mission of making biotechnology in healthcare affordable and accessible, IIL hopes to market these vaccines at highly affordable prices, the release said.

Indian Immunologicals is involved in research and development of conventional vaccines and new recombinant vaccines for infectious bacterial and viral diseases.

The company has several vaccines at various stages of development in its pipeline, the company said in the release.