India could have positioned it self as a producer of large number vaccines at low cost, but what leaves a concern is the country’s inability to meet global quality standards. The worry could however be taken care of by the government, according to Seth Berkley, CEO - Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation.

“ Most of the companies who have lacked quality norms are now trying to focus on it. While GAVI is not a regulatory body, what is expected is that the government and international regulatory bodies set a stringent regulatory environment. The government should keep quality its top priority” he said at the inaugural of BioAsia, a forum for bio companies.

He added that there has however been an explosion in the R&D pipeline of vaccines in India which could further help decrease the morbidity and mortality rates in children globally. “ Indian manufacturers continue to seek newer markets and provide low cost and sustainable vaccines, which is in line with GAVI’s vision. It is however a shame that one third of the un immunized children in the world are from India,” he said.

But, the cost effective manner in which Indian manufacturers produce vaccines has comes to their benefit.” India has been able to change the face of this industry in the past forty years and emerge as a leader.In fact going forward I am hopeful there will be a number of scientific programs that will be added like vaccines for HIV, TB, Dengue, Meningitis and also AIDS through joint development.

“ It is interesting that three years ago India had the largest number of Polio cases and now there is none. We hope to immunise another quarter of the billion in the coming four years and India will paly a critical role in this,” he said.