‘Inactivated low pathogenic avian influenza (H9N2) vaccine for chickens’, developed by scientists at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Bhopal has been transferred to multiple biopharma companies- Globion India, Secunderabad; Venkateshwara Hatcheries, Pune; Indovax, Gurgaon and Hester Biosciences, Ahmedabad, facilitated by Agrinnovate India (AgIn) at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi.

The event was graced by Dr Himanshu Pathak, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR) and Chairman, AgIn, Dr B.N. Tripathi, DDG (Animal Science), Dr Praveen Malik, CEO, Agrinnovate India, Dr Aniket Sanyal, Director ICAR-NIHSAD, representatives of commercial firms, other officials from ICAR and AgIn.

Dr Himanshu Pathak appreciated the efforts of the ICAR-NIHSAD scientists in development of the first indigenous vaccine for H9N2 virus and commended the Agrinnovate India for the efforts in the transfer of the technology to the industry. Dr B.N. Tripathi asserted that the vaccine will meet the standard of the market both in India and abroad. The vaccine will contribute significantly to increasing the income of poultry farmers by reducing the economic loss due to the disease.