Nanolek and Bilthoven Biologicals to launch production of polio vaccine in Russia

Russian drugmaker Nanolek and Dutch vaccines producer Bilthoven Biologicals, which was acquired by Serum Institute of India in 2012, have officially commissioned a new plant for the production of vaccines in the Russian Kirov region, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

According to plans of the partners, at the initial stage they will focus on the production of Russia’s first vaccine against poliomyelitis. That means that already next year the volume of production of the vaccine will amount to 2 million doses of a total demand of more than 3.5 million doses per year.In the long-term the production will be increased up to 10 million doses per year.

According to Vladimir Khristenko, president of Nanolek, a joint venture between RusNano with Russian biotechnology company Epidbiomed,the new vaccine will be by 10%-30% cheaper than its foreign analogues, which will help it to successfully compete with them in the domestic market.