Bharat Biotech and University of Maryland Accelerate Development of New Life Saving Conjugate Vaccine for Invasive Non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS)

Receive USD 4 Million Award from The Wellcome Trust for Development and Clinical Trials Hyderabad, India, June 18, 2012: Bharat Biotech and The University of Maryland Center for  Vaccine Development (“CVD”) announced today a significant milestone achievement– receiving a USD  4 Million Strategic Translation Award from The Wellcome Trust for clinical development of a new  conjugate vaccine including initial clinical trials beginning in three years to prevent the potentially  lethal infectious disease caused by invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS).   NTS have emerged as an important cause of invasive bloodstream infection in sub-Saharan Africa,  among young children with malaria and malnutrition, and among adults with HIV. Strains of nontyphoidal Salmonella (“NTS”) that can cause systemic disease such as meningitis or sepsis are  particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa; approximately 20 to 30% of children with such invasive  NTS infections die.

“The impact, importance of academic and industry partnership is far reaching,” Dr. Krishna Ella,  Chairman and Managing Director Bharat Biotech said. “The CVD NTS project is a testimony of  our belief in collaborative research and our commitment to introduce highly effective and affordable  vaccines to solve region specific neglected diseases in the developing world.” “It’s an imprimatur, says Professor Myron (“Mike”) Levine, Director of the CVD, because of the  prestige associated with the Trust’s involvement, the rigorous vetting process, and the opportunity for  the University, in collaboration with Bharat Biotech, to bring forth a potentially life-saving vaccine for a  very underserved population.”  Professor Levine believes that Bharat Biotech brings critical expertise  as CVD’s project partner in terms of conjugate vaccine development and manufacturing.  The University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development has brought in significant grant funding  over the past few decades to support its extensive vaccine development programs, but this recent  achievement of Wellcome Trust funding for its collaborative NTS Vaccine Development project with  Bharat Biotech holds special significance.   Experts from Bharat Biotech and University of Maryland’s are upbeat on the prospects of developing  NTS Conjugate Vaccine. They stated this PPP project represents a true translational public-private  partnership that not only enables potentially lifesaving vaccine technology to move towards the  marketplace and to the public health arena, but also demonstrates international multi-party  technology transfer collaborations to help advance its science.