The WHO certification for the oral polio vaccine (OPV) manufacturing plant of the Mumbai-based Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Corporation will be delayed by four months. The inspection of the plant is now rescheduled for March 2005 according to Medha Gadgil, managing director, Haffkine Biopharma Ltd. The Corporation has spent around Rs 8 crore on the upgradation of the plant.

The company is said to be the largest manufacturer of OPV in the world and has a capacity to manufacture 600 million doses (two shifts) of OPV in a year. OPV contributes to about 70 per cent of the overall sales of the company.

The WHO-GMP upgradation comes in wake of the company losing out on a UNICEF contract last year. "Last year, we lost a UNICEF contract for lack of proper GMP in our plant. As per the insistence of WHO, we have upgraded our plant according to the latest norms," said Medha Gadgil, managing director, Haffkine Biopharma Ltd.

In the past, Haffkine used to supply 100 million doses of OPV to UNICEF every year, which was supplied at its polio vaccination campaign in the country.

"After securing a WHO approval, we are also considering towards exporting our vaccine," she said.

Apart from Haffkine, Panacea Biotech, Bulandshahar-based (UP) Bibcol and Ghaziabad-based Biomed are the other manufacturers of oral polio vaccine.

As a result of the loss of UNICEF contract, Haffkine's net sales declined to Rs 30 crore for the year ended March 2004, compared to Rs 77 crore for the previous year. The company has not been able to establish any profit on account of missing of the contract, said Gadgil.

The company also manufactures DPT vaccine, anti-snake venom and anti-scorpion serum at its Mumbai-factory. It owns a stable with 500 horses at Pimpri near Pune.