The Vaccine World Summit kicks off today in Pune. Into its 3rd year of running, the Vaccine World Summit India will provide a meeting platform in India from 5-7 March 2013 for leading vaccine industry players to explore partnership opportunities at various stages of the vaccine lifecycle, from the earliest basic research, extends through licensure to all dimensions of the vaccine production.

As India shifts from being a low cost generic vaccine suppliers into R&D power house, local vaccine manufacturers seek to fast track and gain greater access to the latest vaccine technologies through global partnerships. In the recent years, there is a significant rise in global partnerships where international and local vaccine players come together to learn and complement one another's capabilities.Upon the launch of the first Japanese Encephalitis vaccine in India, a collaborative effort, manufactured by Biological E based on Interncell's technology, Thomas Linngelbach, CEO of Intercell commented that the strategic partnership is vital in this remarkable success. Dr Modi, Chairman of Cadila Pharmaceuticals also attributed the exceptionally speedy progress of their new vaccine development to their Joint Venture with Novavax, while Stanley Erck, President and CEO of Novavax trust that the collaboration will expand Novavax's vaccine development capability and add to their global manufacturing capacity.

According to the organizers of the event, IMAPAC, the Indian vaccine industry, valued at $350 million in 2011, is expected to significantly expand, reaching the size of $871million by 2016.As the global vaccine industry landscape shift towards India, the Indian government sees the need to make unprecedented changes to the growing industry. In 2009, the Indian government has declared 2010-2020 as the "Decade of Innovations", promoting innovations in the health care sector through various schemes.

Featured speakers will include Dr Suresh Jadhav, Executive Director, Serum Institute;Dr Rajiv Indravadan Modi, Managing Director, Cadila Pharmaceuticals;Dr Inderjit Singh Sarao, Associate Director, Merck, USA; Dr James F. Young, Chairman, Novavax, USA; Dr Harish Iyer, CEO, Shantha Biotechnics;Dr Norman Baylor, Advisor, PATH MVI Vaccine Science Portfolio Advisory Council (VSPAC), USA; Dr Ranga Iyer, Advisor, Indian Health Progress & Global Pharma Associations;Tarun Vij, Country Program Leader, PATH , India; Dr Stanley Erck, President and CEO, Novavax, USA;Dr Anand Kumar, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals; Dr V. Krishna Mohan, Executive Director, Bharat Biotech International;Dr SD Ravetkar, Executive Director, Serum Institute;Dr Reinhard Glueck, Chief Scientific Officer, Zydus Cadila; Dr Shirshendu Mukherjee, Strategic Advisor, Wellcome Trust, India; Dr Davinder Gill, Chief Executive Officer, MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories; Dr Ramesh S. Paranjape, Director, National AIDS Research Institute, India; Dr Vipin Vashishtha, Convener, Indian Academy of Pediatrics - Committee on Immunization; Helen Yang, Business Development Director, Sinovac Biotech, China; Dr Sanjay Singh, Chairman, Gennova Biopharma; Dr Jacqui Shea, General Manager, Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium, UK; Abdul Muktadir, Managing Director, Incepta, Bangladesh; Dr Rajendra Jani, Senior Vice President of Clinical R&D, Cadila Healthcare, India and Prof T Jacob John, Virologist, Christian Medical College in Vellore, WHO Committee Global Polio Eradication, India