India launches new pneumonia vaccine

A new vaccine against pneumonia, praised as affordable and having long-lasting protection for children against the killer acute respiratory infection that affects lungs, has been unveiled.

The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer unveiled the sub-continent’s first indigenously developed pneumococcal vaccine on Monday evening that targets low income African countries.

Serum Institute of India (SII), which is based in Pune, described Pneumosil (Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine – adsorbed, 10 Valent) as a well-designed vaccine with relevant serotypes and is more affordable than the existing Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCVs).

SII is also the maker of Covishield, the Indian version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine.

The Institute’s vaccine was developed through a collaboration by two leading health organisations - the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that spun for over a decade.

The new vaccine also provides comparable protection by targeting the most prevalent serotypes of the bacterium causing serious illness in developing countries, according to the chief executive, Adar Poonawalla.

“Pneumosil will primarily help to fight against pneumococcal pneumonia amongst children and will be available at an affordable competitive price with an advantage of presence of serotypes 6A and 19A in the vaccine,” he said.

Uniqueness

The unique feature of this World Health Organization (WHO) pre-qualified PCV is its composition which is specially tailored to the prevailing serotype prevalence of Streptococcus pneumonia in Africa, India and other regions of the world.

This means that this conjugate vaccine will provide effective and long-lasting protection for children against pneumococcal diseases.

“This it is a significant milestone which will ensure that children are protected better against Pneumococcal disease with an affordable and high-quality vaccine,” the chief guest, Dr Harsh Vardhan, India’s Union Minister, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare said.

According to WHO, Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. The lungs are made up of small sacs called alveoli, which fill with air when a healthy person breathes. When an individual has pneumonia, the alveoli are filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits oxygen intake.

Pre-existing illnesses, such as symptomatic HIV infections and measles, also increase a child's risk of contracting pneumonia.

It should be treated with antibiotics most commonly amoxicillin dispersible tablets but only one third of children with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need.

This respiratory infection is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide.

In 2017 it killed 808,694 under the age of five thus accounting for 15 percent of all deaths of children under five years old.

Prevalence

Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but is most prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Preventive measure include simple interventions such as low-cost treatment, low-tech medication and care.

WHO also recommends the inclusion of (PCV) in routine childhood immunization programs in all countries.

Following this, Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccines (PCV) work directly to reduce the incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia by preventing Streptococcus pneumonia.

“With a strong commitment towards global health, the institute’s objective has been proliferated by bringing down the prices of newer vaccines such as such as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines, “ Mayank Sen , an official from Serum Institute told Nation in a phone interview .

“We launched Pneumosil because the vaccine is ready and has been extensively evaluated in five randomised controlled clinical trials and has demonstrated comparable safety and immunogenicity against licensed pneumococcal vaccines across diverse populations of India and Africa, Mr Sen said.

He also revealed that Pneumosil was administered to adults, toddlers and infants using different vaccination schedules but the prices are officially yet to beset.

“Based on the trials, Pneumosil was licensed by the Drugs Controller General (India) in July 2020.”

Kenya's case

With about ten years left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), only five for the Integrated Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) targets, Kenya is yet to properly improve policies, investment, innovations, and scale up evidence-based interventions so as to save children’s lives thereby safeguarding each child’s right to be able to fulfil their right to survive and thrive.

United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) says that as low as 25 per 1000 live births is the SDG target rate for under five mortality by 2030 in Kenya.

As per GAPPD 2017 data, pneumonia was the biggest killer of under five children and more than 9000 in 2019 which is more than one child every hour.

However there was an average reduction of six percent in mortality rate between 2000-2018.

History

Historically, India’s entry into manufacture of HIV drugs enabled access to such critical drugs by countries in Africa that could not previously afford them as Dr Moses Masika, a virologist at University of Nairobi (UON) still believes.

Mr Aly Khan Satchu, lawyer and geopolitical analyst argues that India cannot be side-lined in any global vaccine race and is always very keen to partner with Africa whenever the opportunity arises. “The entire vaccine story is of a multi-level multi-layered geo-economic moment and whomsoever can deliver a working vaccine at scale and at price will reap an enormous geo-political dividend.”

“There is no better time in the world for vaccine visibility than now, it is a golden moment to release any, “ says Mihr Thakar, an analyst in Nairobi.

Mr Thakar also believes that India’s cost of medical supplies is predominantly aided by economies of scale from a vast domestic market. “There is likely going to be much more confidence in Indian vaccines due to her factory prowess , increasing Chinese mistrust as a result of bad press emanating from predatory lending , espionage allegations and coronavirus pandemic itself , ” he told Nation.

A study that was conducted recently by the African Export-Import (EXIM) Bank together with the Export-Import Bank of India indicates that commercial trade between Africa and India has expanded more than eight fold from $7.2 billion in 2001 to $59.9 billion in 2019.

India is as of now Africa’s fourth-largest national trading partner and accounted for more than 6.4% of Africa’s total trade in 2017 which was higher than 2.7 in 2001 keeping in mind that as of June 2019, India’s medical tourism was said to earn the Asian subcontinent $9 billion, nearly a third of Kenya’s annual budgetary estimates.

Serum Institute of India Pvt, Ltd (SIIPL) is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses).

It is currently supplying the worlds cheapest and WHO accredited vaccines to as many as 170 countries.

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