Treatment for dengue

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla’s Serum Institute of India (SI) has tied up with US-based biotechnology company Visterra to develop an antidote for dengue. Mass manufacture of the medication could commence within 12-18 months of obtaining the regulatory approvals, reported The Times of India (TOI) on September 22, 2015, quoting chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla.
The largest vaccine maker in Asia and the most low cost in the world, SI will develop the drug to treat all four strains of the dengue virus. They are in the process of applying to the Ministry of Science and Technology for a "fast-track approval” to roll out the treatment in India, notes the report. To be administered as an injection, the treatment will cost between Rs 5,000-10,000 for a single dose and only one dose will be required, mentions the newspaper.

Dr Cyrus (left) and Adar Poonawalla

The company would initiate clinical trials to prove its safety and efficacy on 100 to 1,000 subjects, Adar is quoted as saying. "We hope that the government will give a fast-track approval to our application as dengue has assumed alarming proportions, and could become a public health crisis,” he said. If the trials are successful, SI could perhaps become the first company to offer a cure for the dreaded infection which has shown the worst outbreak, with several deaths, and cases doubling this year, states TOI.
Under the terms of the agreement with Visterra, SI has an exclusive license to commercialize the treatment for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka. The company has made Visterra an upfront payment of five million dollars, and will pay up to $ 34 million based on the achievement of certain development and commercial milestones for the technology.
Reporting that the company is also working on a dengue vaccine, like the other global pharmaceutical majors, to be given as a preventive, the newspaper quotes Adar as saying that the development of such a vaccine will take three to four years, as it has to be tested on a wide range and number of subjects.