Giving a clear indication that the Union government is all set to close down the BCG Vaccine Lab in Chennai, the Union health ministry last week issued a notice to the Lab asking it to transfer all the production technologies to Hindustan Latex Limited for the project of raising an integrated vaccine complex in Chennai.

In January this year, the health ministry had suspended the manufacturing license of the BCG Lab along with, Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor and Central Research Institute, Kasuali, the two other public sector vaccine-producing companies in India, after the WHO finding them not compliant with GMP standards. BCG Lab was an exclusive maker of the anti-tuberculosis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine (BCG Vaccine) for the last sixty years.

According to the letter sent by the ministry to the Lab, the government had taken the decision to shut down the company on June 26, whereas the expert committee constituted by the health ministry to inspect the facilities visited the Lab on July 8 and 9, which clearly indicated that the government had decided to hand over the technologies to the Hindustan Latex even before the visit of the expert panel headed by the DCGI. They were to assess the existing infrastructure facilities of these units and following their report the government would decide whether to restart production or shut these units, was the promise given by the health ministry while winding up operations at the centres.

The panel visited the Central Research Institute, Kasauli on the June 30 and continued inspection until July 2. On July 9 and 10 they called at the BCG Vaccine Lab in Chennai, and on July 10, 11 and 12 they conducted inspections at the Pasteur Institute, Coonoor.

Apart from the DCGI, the chairman of the team, Dr Sokhey, advisor to CDSCO, Dr J Deshpande, director -ERC, ICMR, Mumbai, Dr Sunil Gupta, JD, NICD, Arvind Kukrety, Dr V G Somani, ADCs, Dr Anil Chawla, vice president-Panacea Biotech, Delhi and Dr Sunil Gairola, director, Serum Institute of India, Pune were the other members of the panel.

Sources from the Hindustan Latex told Pharmabiz that in January this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare handed over 300 acres of land at Chengalpet, near Chennai to HLL for its proposed Medical Equipment Park and Vaccine Project. The "MediPark" is envisaged to be an integrated manufacturing facility complex of international standards in the field of healthcare and would comprise of manufacturing industries for medical diagnostics, equipment, disposables and devices. The complex would also house an incubation centre.