The department of biotechnology’s (DBT) offer to the Union health ministry to take over its vaccine production unit seems to have hit the wall with the health ministry expressing its inability to bear the “losses”.
While DBT had offered the ministry of health to take over its public sector vaccine production unit in Bulandshahr, chances are that the department of biotechnology may not eventually transfer it.
Unhappy with the health ministry’s laxity, DBT has decided to go ahead and make the unit stronger on their own. “We cannot let the company be in limbo. The losses are not that high. The new orders for the vaccine may help making up to the losses this year itself. The health ministry took so long to take a decision,” sources in DBT said.
The vaccine production unit, bibcol, produces trivalent oral polio vaccine (TOPV). The unit, which is GMP-compliant, however, had been running into losses. “We are trying to help develop products other than vaccine that could help in the national programme. It is important to know that these units are biologically different-they are not designed to market things. Unless the government provides protection, they could not cope up,” added sources.
Sources say that DBT kept waiting for an appropriate response from the health ministry, but the wait was too long. “We thought that it would be appropriate to transfer it within the government. We did not appoint the MD for long, thinking that health ministry would take it over and do it on their own,” added sources.