Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd

Business: Supply of biopharmaceuticals to agencies/government organizations

Biotech Revenue: Rs 65.69 crore

CEO: Leena Mehendale (MD)

Start-up Year: 1975

Address: Acharya Donde Marg, Parel, Mumbai - 400012

Tel.: 91- 22- 2412 9320 Fax: 91-22-2416 8578

Website: www.vaccinehaffkine.org

Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation Ltd, a public sector undertaking of the Maharashtra government, bounced back in 2006-07 with its biotech turnover touching Rs 65.69 crore against the previous year's turnover of Rs 36.6 crore. It was mainly because of the United Nation's accreditation for the oral polio vaccine, which meets the desired international standards. In 2002-03, its biotech revenue had reached the peak with sales touching Rs 77.6 crore. During the year 2003-04, UNICEF had stipulated a pre-qualification consisting of very high international standards for eligibility to participate in OPV tenders.

After two years of sustained efforts, including two vigorous inspections by the WHO and a team of international experts, Haffkine became the first state public sector undertaking in India to achieve such a distinction in 2006. Haffkine, which has a capacity to manufacture 600 million doses of OPV per year, achieved a sustained growth by entering into business alliances aimed at the manufacture of new vaccines of social relevance.

Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation has slowly increased its sales from biologicals after making regular investments in upgrading its facility to meet the international standards. In 2005-06, its sales increased to Rs 36.6 crore from Rs 33.5 crore from vaccines over the previous year. It has already got the WHO contract for 2007-08 for trivalent OPV, monovalent OPV Type 1 for $5,886,000.

Haffkine is involved in the development and production of a wide range of bacterial and viral vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, plague, poliomyelitis and rabies. It has been importing the OPV from Indonesia, blending it and mass-producing it in its Mumbai facility for the benefit of the general public. It makes vaccines for polio and rabies, besides serums and essential pharma products. It has been supplying vaccines to government agencies and UNICEF.

Haffkine has a farm and laboratory at Pimpri near Pune where antitoxins and sera for snake and scorpion venom, tetanus and diphtheria toxins are produced.