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Two years ago the World Health Organization, along with the governments of the United States and Japan, gave grants to six developing nations to help them build their own vaccine manufacturing infrastructure.
India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam each received up to 2.5 million dollars, and technological assistance. Since then other grants and assistance have been provided.
While it was not expected that India would have their manufacturing capability fully online until next year, the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune believes they can be ready to go into production this summer.
Today, India became the first nation to officially announce their plan to go ahead with the development, and manufacture, of an H1N1 vaccine.
How much vaccine they can produce, and over what time period, is something that has not been determined.
India to make vaccine in time for flu's 2nd coming
13 May 2009, 0350 hrs IST, Kounteya Sinha , TNN
NEW DELHI: India has decided to go ahead with mass scale production of a vaccine against H1N1 influenza as soon as it receives the seed stock -- a strain of the virus on which the vaccine will be based.
In a meeting on Tuesday among the Indian Council of Medical Research, health ministry officials and vaccine manufacturers like Serum Institute, Panacea, Bharat Biotech and Sanofi, it was decided that the Centre would immediately ask WHO and CDC Atlanta to send the seed stock for companies to develop the technology to create the vaccine before the world is possibly hit by the second wave of the H1N1 pandemic.
Marie Paule Kieny, WHO's director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research, had recently said that the seed will be available to manufacturers by the second half of May.
Speaking to TOI, ICMR director-general Dr V M Katoch said the government will hold another meeting in 10 days to constitute a core team to begin research work on the vaccine.
By then, companies too have been asked to "prepare their manufacturing plans and their intent on how much they can manufacture and in how much time".
