BB, Biofabri tie up to develop, make, distribute TB vax

Hyderabad: City-based Bharat Biotech, a global leader in vaccine innovation and developer of vaccines for infectious diseases, has announced the partnership with Biofabri, a Spanish biopharmaceutical company, to develop, manufacture and market a new tuberculosis vaccine in more than 70 countries in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Biofabri is a biopharmaceutical company of Zendal group based in Porriño, Spain, with the aim of researching, developing and manufacturing vaccines for humans. The vaccine is being manufactured and developed by BIOFABRI, in close collaboration with the University of Zaragoza, IAVI and the Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (TBVI). MTBVAC has been designed and discovered by Carlos Martín team of the University of Zaragoza.

This agreement between Bharat Biotech and Biofabri would guarantee the worldwide production and the supply of the vaccine in more than 70 countries with a high TB incidence, such as India which has the highest TB burden in the world, with a 25 per cent of all cases.

MTBVAC is one of the most promising vaccine candidates in the current global TB vaccine pipeline. The only currently available TB vaccine, the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine (BCG), was developed 100 years ago and has limited efficacy in preventing pulmonary TB in adults, who, along with adolescents, are the biggest spreaders of the disease.

"TB infects more than 20 per cent of the global population and is the second leading cause of deaths from infectious disease after Covid-19. TB is a highly contagious disease where vaccines are the best solution to prevent disease, reduce transmission and combat multi drug resistant strains," said Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech.