New Delhi: In a move that reflects the intention of the union government to revamp the public sector units for vaccine production, health ministry cleared the establishment of first of its kind Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) compliant facility for manufacturing of DPT and TT vaccine at the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh.
Speaking at the inaugural event at Kasauli on April 25th, Mr J P Nadda, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare expressed happiness at this singular achievement of CRI. Minister congratulated the Institute and termed it as a milestone in the vaccine production capacity of the country and CRI as it gets ready to celebrate its 111th foundation day the coming month. The facility is said to be the first one within the central government to achieve this feat.
Mr Nadda noted that recent advancements in regulatory requirements and introduction of cGMP concept in vaccine manufacturing led to the need for creation of cGMP compliant infrastructure and processes. Considering this, CRI has been able to create this cGMP compliant facility for production of DPT group of vaccines with the guidance and support of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, he added. This makes CRI the first Central Government Institute to have cGMP compliant infrastructure for vaccine production. TT vaccine has been commercialized from this facility for Universal Immunization Programme use and production of DPT bulk has been initiated, health minsiter said. He further stated that as it is essential for vaccine manufacturers to have global quality standards, CRI is exploring the feasibility of establishing WHO prequalified cGMP compliant manufacturing facility for yellow fever vaccine. This will enable the institute to supply yellow fever vaccine to African and Latin American countries.
The institute has plans to manufacture all vaccines viz., Japanese encephalitis vaccine, Rabies vaccine and Typhoid vaccine, which were earlier manufactured in the Institute, after establishing cGMP compliant facilities and application of recent technological advancements.
CRI plans to create state of the art, fully dedicated cGMP compliant laboratory for research on vaccine development and various other public health related issues. The institute plans to undertake research on newer vaccine candidates for existing and emerging diseases and to manufacture more efficacious and safer vaccines as also to contribute to the prevention of spread of novel antigenic variants.
In addition to the these, the Health Minister said that as part of its expansion plans, CRI is in process of acquiring 128 bighas of land from Himachal Pradesh Government for creation of cGMP compliant facility for manufacturing of therapeutic anti-sera. This initiative will increase the production capacity of the institute to cater to the ever increasing demand of these lifesaving anti-sera and also generate significant amount of employment opportunities for country’s youth. Manufacture of immunobiologicals and animal care is an important and highly technical field which requires trained manpower at every level. For Skill development in this area, CRI is initiating a certificate course in ‘Production of Immunobiologicals and Animal Care’, affiliated to the State Council of Vocational Training, Himachal Pradesh. This course will play a significant role in developing trained manpower to work in various health, research and pharmaceutical setups and provide plethora of opportunities for youth of the country, he added. Mr Nadda also stated that CRI has started apprenticeship training for maintenance of high end machinery and equipment that have been installed with creation of new cGMP facility for production of DPT vaccine in the institute.
The Health Minister also launched the website of CRI at the occasion.
