Originally from: lina
                        
http://www.poultrydeals.com/website/public/staticpages/poultrynews/poultrynews.asp

Venkateshwara Hatcheries to manufacture FMD vaccines

Pune: The Rs 1,300 crore Venkateshwara Hatcheries
group is all set to get into the business of
manufacturing vaccines for the dreaded foot and mouth
disease (FMD) which played havoc with economies around
the world a couple of years ago.

The company has entered into a technical tie-up with
Brazilian company Bio-Vet., one of the world's largest
producers of vaccines for poultry, pet animals and FMD
and is setting up Rs20 crore manufacturing center at
Hinjewadi near Pune, its Chairperson, Ms Anuradha
Desai, told Business Line.

"We plan to be in the market with the product ten
months from now," she said. The company plans to
manufacture forty million doses of FMD vaccines and 15
and ten million doses each of bacterial and other
viral vaccines in the new facility.

The company, which is the pioneer in indigenous
production of poultry vaccine , will tap the huge
developing market for the FMD vaccine both in the
domestic and the export market, Ms Desi said. The
government's action plan under the Tenth Five Year
Plan is to take up a national immunization campaign
for FMD.

"Under this plan there is a requirement of two hundred
million doses of the vaccine to cover a total
population of 25 million animals to create disease
free zones (DFZs)," Ms Desai said.

According to the company, the domestic market also
comprises demand for the vaccine from other states and
private players in the dairy business adding up to
between sixty-seventy five million doses every year.

"For India eliminating FMD is crucial since over Rs800
crore of buffalo meat is exported every year and the
new WTO rules demand that the exports only be from
DFZs," she said.

India's FMD vaccine capacity currently stands at 43
million doses annually produced by three existing
manufacturers including the Indian Veterinary Research
Institute.

Ms Desai said the company would leverage its huge
marketing and distribution network for various poultry
products and its knowlwedge of potential rural markets
at the grass roots level for the new business venture.

While there is a shortfall in the supply of the FMD
vaccine considering the target set by the Tenth Plan,
Ms Desai said there is also a huge export market for
the product in the neighboring South East and Middle
East countries totaling 45–50 million doses
annually.

These countries currently import vaccines from
European manufacturers thus making the product
expensive at $1 per dose she said pointed out that the
costs could be more viable for these countries if the
product were to be imported from the country.

Source: The Business Line, Madras