Bagging in its first deal with a Chinese vaccine manufacturer to market two influenza vaccines in the country, the Parenteral Biotech Ltd., a subsidiary of Parenteral Drugs (India) Ltd (PDPL), is all set to enter into the Indian vaccine market through tie ups and basic research activities.

The company, which has signed a deal with the Sinovac Biotech Ltd, China to register, supply and distribute the latter's Anflu (seasonal influenza vaccine) and Panflu 1 (H1N1 vaccine) in India, is also trying to tread on the market with two more products brought in from overseas firms - an Anti RitroViral (ARV) vaccine and a Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine, said Anil Mittal, chief executive officer, PDPL.

"We are on the process of finalising deals with overseas firms to bring in more vaccines through Parenteral Biotech. The talks are in the final stage and we expect to sign deal on the ARV vaccine and JE vaccine soon," said Mittal. "We are applying with the drug regulator to register the two vaccine products (Anflu and Panflu 1) under the agreement with Sinovac Biotech and hope to launch these products in India in a couple of months," he added.

As per the deal signed with Sinovac, Parenteral is authorized to register, supply and distribute the vaccines to the Government of India and in the private market. However, the volume, delivery schedule and other specific details about how Sinovac's vaccines may be marketed and supplied in India have not been determined. "We know that this is a competitive market with other products are also hitting the shelves, but the commercials of the products are ought to do fare for our business," said Mittal.

The company is also conducting research on a DNA based anti rabbies vaccine in tie up with the Jawarlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The research turned out successful in the laboratory level and the vaccine is currently undergoing tests in Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli. The company expects to receive result of the tests any time between the second and third week of April and would eventually move on to next level of studies, informed Mittal.

The Parenteral Biotech, formed as a biopharmaceutical subsidiary to the PDPL, has its focus on vaccines at present and is designed as a real research based company. The PDPL, at present, develops, manufactures and markets products, from more than 30 core technologies and across some 40-plus product divisions. The company has operations in over 60 countries, and sales in more than 200.