Chemically synthesised vaccines could be the future as they are economical, quicker to produce, reproducible and do not need high-end infrastructure like cold storage, says Columbian Malaria Vaccine scientist Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, while speaking at a scientific symposium on the topic of ‘New Vaccines’ held at CR Rao AIMSCS, University of Hyderabad.

The symposium was organised by PC2 Scientific Services, the Hyderabad based strategic and technical consulting company in association with Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA) and CR RAO AIMSCS to create awareness and generate more insight on Research and Development of Vaccines.

Leading speakers deliberated on various issues, challenges and opportunities in the field of vaccine manufacturing. Presided by Professor Dr. Manuel Elkin Patarroyo, who is the first scientist who created the chemically synthesised vaccine (SPf66) against the scourging disease Malaria, followed by a large series of clinical and field trials in different parts of the world that allowed the conclusion of the feasibility of chemically synthesised vaccines.

The vaccine was the first-of-its-kind against a parasite and the first one to be produced in a third-world country. Professor Dr. Manuel donated the SPf66 patent to the World Health Organization in 1995 to ensure a cheap and accessible cure for people in developing countries.

“Even today Malaria has been a growing concern across the world. Malaria cases have been increasingly high in some parts of the Americas, South-East Asia, Western Pacific and Africa, although in many other regions infections are stable or going down,” said Dr. Manuel.

Referring to a recent study, Dr. Manuel noted that there were 216 million cases of malaria in 91 countries, an increase of five million compared with 2015. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria killed 445,000 people in 2016.

Highlighting that Hyderabad is a major contributor of vaccines to the global markets from India, Dr. Dasari V Ravi Kumar, and Director of PC2 Scientific Services observed that Hyderabad is producing about 33 per cent of global vaccines dosages and 35 per cent to the pharmaceutical production in the country. He also emphasised on the commendable role of the government of Telangana for understanding the need and providing resources to create large-scale facilities, R&D and production houses. “Through this initiative, we aim to bring international scientific expert delegation and to create wider opportunities in Hyderabad to promote research on affordable and accessible clinical innovations,” said Dr Ravi Kumar.

Some of the eminent speakers who took part in the symposium included Prof. Dr. Manuel Alfonso Patarroyo (Professor, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia) and other important speakers from the industry included Dr. Anand Kumar, CEO, Indian Immunologicals, Dr. Akshay Goel, senior vice president R&D, Biological E limited, and Dr. Partha Kumar Sarkar, associate vice president, Shantha Biotechnics.