Bharat Biotech announces the receipt of the National Technology Award for 2018 from the Technology Development Board, Govt of India. This prestigious award on innovative technologies, successfully developed and commercialized from India was bestowed on ROTAVAC®, by the Hon’ble President of India Shri. Ram Nath Kovind.
The Technology Day ceremony was held at the Vigyan Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi. Dr. Harsha Vardhan, Hon’ble Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment, Forests and Climate change and Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Chairperson, Technology Development Board and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology were also present at the event. Launched in 2015 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, ROTAVAC ® was introduced into the Universal Immunization Program in India during 2016, with initial implementation in 9 states with more States in the pipeline.
Till date, Bharat Biotech has supplied ~ 35 million doses to the UIP. ROTAVAC ® is already saving infant lives and lowering the cost of hospitalizations across India. The company has also initiated supply of WHO Prequalified ROTAVAC® to UNICEF and other Immunization programs worldwide. Ecstatic about the Presidential honour and the highly prestigious National Award,
Dr. Krishna M Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech said: “We are proud to receive the National Technology Award 2018 for ROTAVAC®, it proves that researchers and product developers from India are capabable to develop and commercialize innovative technologies for the world.”
The national award from the Technology Development Board award recognizes organizations who have forged powerful partnerships with the national laboratories and to create knowledge networks with academic institutions to promote research and development and to gain entry into global markets. The nominees for the award and winners were selected on the basis of their extraordinary knowledge in and contributions to scientific innovation.
Bharat Biotech’s supply chain innovation includes the introduction of a miniaturized cold chain footprint for ROTAVAC® to 1/5 of its competitors. With product and administration profiles very similar to that of OPV, and a cold chain footprint of ~ 3.2 cm 3 /dose of 0.5 mL, the vaccine is ideally suited for introduction into immunization programs worldwide. ROTAVAC® is under registration in more than 30 countries.
ROTAVAC® boasts a large family of intellectual property with patents filed in more than 35 countries and granted in 10 countries including India, USA, China, EU, Japan, UK etc. Bharat Biotech currently, holds a portfolio of 60 patents and has delivered more than 3 billion doses of vaccines to over 65 countries. Since its inception, Bharat Biotech’s founding vision and strategy was to develop vaccines for neglected diseases and cater to people who suffer from these diseases especially the underprivileged who live in the emerging world.
Mrs. Suchitra Ella, the Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech added, “We are highly thankful to the Technology Development Board and the Govt of India for selecting ROTAVAC®. This inspires our team to continue our efforts in vaccines innovation and product development for India and beyond” The biggest success story in recent times has been company’s rollout of WHO Prequalified made in India Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine, Typbar-TCV®. ROTAVAC® was developed as a result of a multi country - multi partner collaborative model of team science for over 2 decades.
This large public private social innovation partnership included the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute (THSTI), the Society for Applied Studies (SAS), Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, King Edwards Memorial Hospital (KEM) Pune, Stanford University School of Medicine, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Johns Hopkins University and PATH. The ROTAVAC® partnership has resulted in more than 15 international publications, including the pivotal phase III publication in Lancet in 2014.
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the National Technology Day Celebrations in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that after Independence, India began to climb the value chain in technology and knowledge production in the areas of space and atomic energy. Today, we have expanded to best-in-class capacities in communication technology, IT, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. This has changed perceptions about our country and helped both our people and our economy. In the past year itself, we have had stand-out achievements such as the launch of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System - 1L. We are also making preparations for the Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon. India has a formidable reputation in drugs and vaccines.Congratulating the award winners at the event, the President said the emphasis on quality in our innovation and technology endeavours is non-negotiable. There was a time when we tended to confuse frugal and low-cost innovation with jugaad – small, incremental change or essentially a cut-and-paste approach to technology. As a society, we have and we must continue to overcome that mindset. Today’s award winners are examples of how we are moving ahead with daring, with risk-taking ability and with ingenuity – how we are making genuine leaps of imagination and of innovation. Beyond the products and processes, it is this new energy among our technology incubators that is refreshing.The President said that now we have to explore new frontiers. The government has proposed to establish Centres of Excellence to train young technologists in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital manufacture, Big Data Analytics, quantum communication, and in the Internet of Things. The government is also pursuing demonstration and deployment of successful technology solutions for clean energy options and for meeting the challenge of water availability. These are 21st century challenges – and they require 21st century answers.The President said that technology is destiny, but technology must also be equity. Its fruits must be accessible to all. Finance and resources should be available to all technologists who may wish to turn entrepreneurs – and to migrate from the lab room to the shop floor. Above all, gender equity must be integrated with technology production and technology sharing. We need more of our country’s young women to enter the technology and innovation space. Those who are already working here are doing a remarkable job, but their numbers need to improve. And improve urgently.
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