Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech received the 2018 National Technology Award for the diarrhea vaccine Rotovac. The award was presented by President Ram Nath Kovind during the Technology Day event. The ceremony was held at Vigyan Bhawan at Maulana Azad Road in New Delhi.
In 2015, Rotavac was introduced to the Universal Immunization Program (UIP) in India. It was also the first Indian designed vaccine to pass the World Health Organization test. Till date, Bharat Biotech has supplied 35 million doses to the Universal Immunization Program.
After receiving the award Managing Director and Chairman of Bharat Biotech Dr. Krishna M. Ella said, “We are proud to receive the National Technology Award 2018 for Rotavac, it proves that researchers and product developers from India are capable to develop and commercialize innovative technologies for the world.”
Rotavac as a patent is filed in more than 35 countries including the U.S., China, Japan and the U.K. At present, Bharat Biotech has a portfolio of 60 patents and delivered 3 billion doses of the vaccine to 65 countries.
The vaccine was developed with the help of a multi country and multi partner collaboration. It took a total of 2 decades of research and testing to get the final product.
