Bharat Biotech arm gets nod for novel LSD vax for cattle

Hyderabad: Biovet, an arm of the Bharat Biotech group that makes animal health vaccines, received a licence from the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) for its lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine for dairy cattle and buffaloes called BIOLUMPIVAXIN.
The novel indigenous live-attenuated vaccine, touted as the world's first and only differentiated infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) marker vaccine, was developed by Bharat Biotech's Biovet using the LSD virus/Ranchi/2019 vaccine strain from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), Hisar.
The vaccine, which took about three years to develop, will be rolled out soon, the Bharat Biotech subsidiary said on Monday. The vaccine is being produced by Biovet at its facilities in Mallur, Karnataka, where it has a capacity to produce 500 million doses of the vaccine per annum.
According to Biovet, BIOLUMPIVAXIN offers a high safety and efficacy profile while enabling serological differentiation between naturally infected and vaccinated animals with the DIVA concept in it. "The quality, safety, and efficacy of the vaccine were extensively tested at ICAR-NRCE and at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), ensuring it meets the highest global standards," it said.
Dr Krishna Ella, founder of Biovet and founder chairman of Bharat Biotech, said, "This DIVA marker vaccine is a game-changer for veterinary medicine for disease surveillance and eradication programs. Epidemiologists and field workers can now distinguish if an animal received BIOLUMPIVAXIN® or was previously infected with LSD."
"The CDSCO licensure for this vaccine is a significant step toward Atmanirbhar Bharat in veterinary healthcare, which avoids dependency on imported vaccines. As India moves towards a disease-free livestock population, this path-breaking vaccine will play a crucial role in ensuring the dairy industry's sustainability," Dr Ella added.