After rotavirus vaccine, DBT pushing for development of malaria, dengue vaccines

After successfully developing rotavirus vaccine indigenously for the first time in the country, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is aggressively pushing itself to replicate the success in the case of dengue and malaria vaccines also. While malaria vaccine is going through phase I clinical trials, the efforts to develop a vaccine for dengue is into the advanced stages of pre-clinical studies. “We are having a review meeting on June 28 to assess the progress and we will be able to give more details after the meeting,” a senior official of the Department said. In a major fillip to the Indian attempts to develop affordable vaccines, DBT in collaboration with Bharat Biotech last month announced the successful completion of the phase III trials of a rotavirus vaccine – Rotavac. The vaccine against critical rotavirus, one of the major causes of deaths among the children in the country, will soon be available in the...