Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurates the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine of India

The Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan on December 28, 2020, inaugurated the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine ‘Pneumosil’ of India. The vaccine has been developed by the Serum Institute of India Private Limited in collaboration with partners such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to an official release, recognizing the Serum Institute of India as the largest manufacturer of the vaccine by a number of doses in the world and its contribution to the country’s economy, the Health Minister stated that its vaccines are used in 170 countries worldwide. Every third child in the world has been immunized with the institute’s vaccine.

Health Minister also added that Serum Institute of India developed and got the license of India’s first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine from the Indian government during the pandemic lockdown in line with PM Modi’s vision of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

The inauguration event was attended by Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India Private Limited, and Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman, Poonawalla Group of Industries and Founder, SIIPL.

It was indeed a matter of great pride to have launched today, India's 1st indigenous Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine called Pneumosil.

Developed by @SerumInstIndia, it's a shining example of India's capacity & capability of manufacturing sophisticated vaccines.@MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/hfXXparwbk

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) December 28, 2020

Indigenously developed pneumococcal conjugate vaccine:

• The first indigenously developed pneumococcal conjugate vaccine of Serum Institute will be available in the market under the name ‘Pneumosil’. It will be available at an affordable price in a single dose and multidose presentation.

• The vaccine has been evaluated in 5 randomized clinical trials. It also demonstrated comparable immunogenicity and safety against the licensed pneumococcal vaccines across the populations of Africa and India. There Pneumosil was administered to the toddlers, adults, and infants under different vaccination schedules.

• Pneumosil during the clinical trials was found to be effective and safe in the prevention of Pneumonia disease.

• On the basis of the successful clinical trials, Pneumosil was licensed by DGCI in July 2020 after the approval from the Subject Expert Committee.

Health minister congratulates India’s scientific community:

The Union Health Minister congratulated India’s medical and scientific fraternity and added that he is sure that the team of Serum Institute and others will continue their endeavor of developing many life-saving vaccines in the future.

He noted that the indigenous development of Pneumosil is a matter of pride because till now India was fully dependent on a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that is manufactured by foreign manufacturers and are available at very high prices.

The Health Minister added that Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death among the children who are under 5 years of age worldwide, which accounts for nearly 10 lakh deaths globally.