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Innovation on a global scale
Panacea Biotec, a pre-qualified supplier of OPV and Hep-B vaccines to UN agencies also has WHO pre-qualification for its pentavalent vaccines.

Panacea Biotec is one of India’s leading research-based health management companies with established research, manufacturing and marketing capabilities. The product portfolio of the company includes vaccines, biopharmaceuticals and prescription products in important therapeutic areas such as pain management, diabetes management, renal-disease management, anti-osteoporosis, anti-tubercular and gastro-intestinal care products.
The company registered a net turnover of Rs 831.55 crore in 2008-09. The total biotech revenue stood at Rs 597.14 crore as against Rs 678.41 crore previous year, while the vaccine segment registered net revenue of Rs 547 crore as compared to Rs 636 crore in 2007-08.
In July 2008, Panacea Biotec received WHO pre-qualification for its fully liquid innovative combination pentavalent vaccine, Easy five, which resists against five deadly infectious diseases (DTwP+ Hep B+ Hib) of early childhood. EasyFive (Pentavalent) vaccine is available in different markets with antigens used from different sources. Panacea had earlier received pre-qualification by WHO for two other combination vaccines, EasyFour (DTP + Hib) and Ecovac (DTP + Hep B). In a notification, WHO has advised the UN procuring agencies regarding the acceptability of these vaccines worldwide. Panacea Biotec is already a pre-qualified supplier of OPV and hepatitis-B vaccines to UN agencies. This makes Panacea Biotec one of the first few companies in the world to have been pre-qualified by WHO for a pentavalent vaccine.
The company also received an award notification from UNICEF for supply of its pentavalent vaccine.
While commenting on the achievement, Rajesh Jain, JMD, Panacea Biotec, said, “There is an urgent need to foster innovation for the developing countries as the world is inching closer to the goal of eradicating dreadful diseases, especially for the early childhood, by providing effective vaccines. Immunization can prevent a million deaths. We at Panacea Biotec are partners with agencies worldwide to accelerate and spearhead a wide spectrum of technological innovations to develop vaccines that meet the unique needs of low-resource countries
In October last year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with PharmAthene, Inc., US, a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats, that includes a strategic equity investment to the tune of Rs 61.72 crore, in exchange for the purchase of common stock and warrants in PharmAthene.