Glaxo India has received the approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to manufacture and market a combination vaccine for hepatitis A and B, a company official said. The new vaccine, a recombinant product, will be branded Twinrix, the official said. The product will hit the market in a few days.

The multinational had earlier completed clinical trials of the vaccine at selected medical institutes in the country.

The combination vaccine from Glaxo is said to have an increased compliance level. The official said the new combination vaccine is a low cost alternative but did not reveal at what price the company plans to sell it.

Currently, there is only one hepatitis A vaccine available in India -- Havrix from SmithKline Beecham, whose operations are now being integrated with that of Glaxo following their merger. Hepatitis A vaccine is much more expensive than hepatitis B vaccines with the price of Havrix eight times higher that of the hepatitis B vaccines at Rs 1,100 (adult dose) and Rs 700 (pediatrics). Market sources said that the hepatitis A segment is very buoyant with increased purchases from public health institutes and the private sector.

The Glaxo official however denied an agency report suggesting the Drug Controller's nod for a hepatitis C vaccine by the company. "We don't plan a hepatitis C vaccine now and hence no application has been filed with the drug controller," he said. No hepatitis C vaccine is available in India now, while there are ten brands available in the hepatitis B segment, which consequently witnesses a price war now.