Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) introduced HILLCHOL (BBV131), an innovative
single-strain Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV). The vaccine developed under a license from Hilleman Laboratories, with funding from Merck, USA, and Wellcome Trust, UK, marking a significant step forward in global health.
Currently, the global supply of OCVs is limited to a single manufacturer, leading to an annual shortfall of approximately 40 million doses. To address this shortage, Bharat Biotech has set up large-scale production facilities in Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar, with a capacity to produce up to 200 million doses of HILLCHOL.
Despite being preventable and treatable, cholera cases and fatalities have been on the rise since 2021. From early 2023 to March of this year, there were 824,479 reported cases and 5,900 deaths across 31 countries.
The HILLCHOL vaccine is administered orally on Days 0 and 14 and is suitable for individuals over the age of one. It comes as a single-dose respule and must be stored between +2°C and +8°C. Notably, HILLCHOL is available in both mono and multidose formats, making it one of the first vaccines to offer this presentation.
As reported by biospectrumindia.com, the development and launch of HILLCHOL are the results of extensive international collaboration, involving Hilleman Laboratories, Bharat Biotech, the University of Gothenburg, and Gotovax AB.