WHO grants pre-qualification status for Biological E.’s novel oral polio vaccine type 2

The World Health Organisation has granted pre-qualification status to the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) of Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Biological E.

A next-generation live, attenuated oral vaccine promising to significantly reduce the risk of circulating vaccine-derived Poliovirus type 2 outbreaks, nOPV2 is intended for use in countries affected by cVDPV2.

This is the 10th pre-qualified vaccine of BE, the company said, announcing the WHO decision in a release on Tuesday.

BE has received technology, for the vaccine, from PT BioFarma (PTB) of Indonesia and qualified large-scale manufacturing facilities that produce more than 500 million doses of nOPV2 vaccine annually.

Indian regulatory authorities have approved BE to manufacture the vaccine for export purposes.