The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) under the department of scientific & industrial research is planning to licence a host of indigenously developed technologies, including those for cattle and poultry vaccines, to the domestic manufacturing industry.

The technologies on the NRDC platform include an oil-based vaccine for infectious bovine rhinotrachetis (IBR), a disease widely prevalent amongst crossbred cattle particularly with organized dairy farms. A senior NRDC official told Pharmabiz.com that a new vaccine for New Castle Disease (Ranikhet disease) affecting the poultry sector has also been put up for licensing to a commercial manufacturer,.

Also on offer are an ELISA-based diagnostic kit for progensterone, testosterone and cortisol and an ELISA-based pregnancy detection kit. Processes for fetal bovine serum preparation, human serum albumin kit, and platelet derived growth factor are also ready to be transferred to the industry.

Unlike other infectious diseases of cattle, which cause high mortality, IBR disease entails considerable economic cost, since it causes substantial drop in milk and meat production due to high foetus morbidity. There is no therapeutic control on IBR disease in the country now, with no drug available to treat the disease. Preventive vaccine continues to be the only way to manage the disease.

No IBR vaccine is being manufactured domestically, while a host of dairies import various vaccines from Europe, the US etc. According to the official, the new vaccine on offer is oil-based and the antigen used is of Indian origin. The vaccine can bring quick, complete and long-lasting immunity. The production technology that NRDC is attempting to commercialise consists of IBR vaccine and diagnostic. While the cost per test and vaccine of imported products is approximately US$1, the new technology products are expected to be much less expensive, officials said.

IBR disease shows various clinical syndromes viz. respiratory disease, genital disorders, infectious pustular vulvovaginitis in heifers, cows, she-buffaloes, infectious pustular balanoposthitis in bulls, abortion, and also infections of eyes, nervous system, digestive system, skin etc.

A virus belonging to the family paramyxoviridae causes New Castle disease or Ranikhet disease. It's a worldwide disease affecting birds including chicken, first noticed in 1927 in Djakarta and later in UK and India (at Raniket in Kumaon hills) in the same year. Human beings are also susceptible to the virus as it causes conjunctivitis. The disease continues to pose a severe threat to the poultry industry despite the availability of several embryo-adapted live and inactivated vaccines in the market.

Different isolates of the virus causes a spectrum of diseases according to the virulence of the strain, ranging from a lethal disease to sub clinical respiratory tract infection. Adapted to a specific pathogen-free mammalian cell line, the new vaccine doesn't permit adventitious poultry pathogens and is free from contaminating avian pathogens, the officials informed. The advantage in manufacture of the new product is that there's no need for specific pathogen-free eggs as in the case of existing vaccines and that the cell line is internationally accepted for vaccine production.

"Besides, production of the new vaccine would cost less as compared to the vaccines currently in the market. While the estimated cost of production of the existing vaccines is Rs. 1,200 (per 1,000 doses) for an Indian manufacturer and Rs. 1,648 for a foreign manufacture, the new vaccine would cost only Rs. 1,100." The current market demand for the vaccine in the country is estimated to be 395 million doses a year, while the projections for the future is 450 million doses a year.

Recently, the NRDC has licensed the know-how for the preparation of a slew of bioactive anti-diabetic compounds (by lowering of blood glucose and cholesterol) to Kolkata-based Earth Remedies (Pvt.) Ltd, for further development and commercialization. Developed by Dr P.S. Murthy and his associates, the compounds, developed from natural products like fenugreek (methi), garlic and banyan bark, are found to be effective at lower doses. As per the agreement signed between NRDC and Earth Remedies recently, the company will have the right to manufacture and sell the products in India. The corresponding rights for the US market had earlier been given to Diakron Pharmaceuticals Inc. of US. NRDC sources said that the corporation has applied for patent in India for the process to extract the compounds.

In the coming years, the NRDC will be focusing on new and frontier areas of research like new drugs, delivery systems and nano technology, sources said.