A leading Indian vaccine maker has inaugurated a new sterile filtered serum manufacturing facility in Dargaville, a Northland town south of Whangarei.
Indian Immunologicals Limited is a subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) – a government of India enterprise solely responsible for transforming India’s milk production capabilities and elevating its position to the world’s largest milk producer.
The Dargaville facility was inaugurated on July 12 by Meenesh C. Shah, Chairman, Indian Immunologicals Ltd and National Dairy Development Board, in the presence of Dr Jason Smith, the Mayor of Dargaville, Dr K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director, IIL, Dr Vijay Dasari, GM and Director, Pristine Biologicals (NZ) Limited and several assembled dignitaries.
In an exclusive interview with Indian Weekender, Dr K Anand Kumar and Dr Vijay Dasari talked about the history of IIL’s New Zealand subsidiary Pristine Biologicals (NZ) and the reasons and advantages of the former’s foray into the New Zealand market.
Pristine Biologicals has been in NZ since 2015
Pristine was established in Dargaville, Kaipara District, in 2015 for the production and supply of pharmaceutical-grade bovine serum used to produce many vaccines.
The compulsion for the Indian vaccine maker’s foray into the New Zealand market was the premium value of bovine serum from New Zealand in world vaccine markets.
New Zealand (and Australia) are considered free from many cattle/bio diseases that raises the premium value of the Bovine Serum produced in this region and explains Indian Immunological Ltd.’s decision to establish an NZ-based subsidiary.
Expressing satisfaction with the performance of Pristine Biologicals (NZ), Dr K Anand Kumar said, “Pristine Biologicals is a success story, and we are absolutely delighted with the performance of the company.”
“The affordable vaccines made in India required a sustainable supply of quality ingredients made by Pristine.”
“Plans are under way to double the capacity as soon as demand goes up significantly,” Dr Anand said on future plans to further expand New Zealand operations.
Demand for bovine serum from NZ has gone up in world market
Dr Anand Kumar said the demand for bovine serum from New Zealand for use in biologics manufacture has gone up manifold and to meet this increased demand, it is important to augment the capacities of its New Zealand-based operations.
Notably, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global Bovine Serum Albumin market size is estimated to be worth US$ 207.9 million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of US$ 245.4 million by 2028 with a CAGR of 2.8% during the review period.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s vaccine manufacturers have started to feel the heat of ensuring the supply of quality serum, and it is here that Indian Immunologicals Ltd has been helping them through the supply from their NZ-based operations.
“On a recent visit to IIL, Hyderabad, Government of India’s Secretary Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries (DADF) requested IIL to ramp up serum production capacity at Pristine NZ and also make it available to Indian companies on a priority basis,” Dr Anand said.
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