Indian Immunologicals Joins Hands with CIFE to Develop First Fish Vaccine

Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL), based in Hyderabad, announced a collaboration with the Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE) to commercialize India's first fish vaccine. The vaccine will be created to protect freshwater fish from common bacterial diseases.

CIFE, an institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), will provide technology for two inactivated bacterial vaccines, one for Columnaris Disease, a serious condition affecting many freshwater fish species, and the other for Edwardsiellosis, which causes high mortality and severe economic losses. Both diseases are prevalent in freshwater fish and are widely thought to be ubiquitous.

"IIL was the first to introduce several innovative veterinary vaccines to the world, including the Porcine Cysticercosis vaccine, the FMD+HS+BQ combination vaccine, and the Theileria vaccine. IIL has again been the first in India to obtain fish vaccines."

"We are committed to introducing more products for the aquaculture market to assist shrimp and fish growers in increasing productivity and protecting fish schools from various diseases," said Dr. K Anand Kumar, Managing Director of Indian Immunologicals Limited. "IIL intends to introduce vaccines and immunostimulants with technology transfer from various ICAR fisheries institutes."

IIL is currently evaluating several fish vaccine candidates for commercialization. "The introduction of such vaccines may have a positive impact on reducing the indiscriminate use of chemical or antibiotic-based treatment methods, thereby aiding in the reduction of antimicrobial resistance by fish farmers practicing environmentally sustainable pond and fish health management," said Dr. Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited. IIL works to find solutions to the problems that Indian fish farmers face in their farm production system.

There are currently no commercially available fish vaccines in India to prevent aquaculture infections. Aquaculture sectors are critical to meeting the world's rising protein demand, which is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. India is the world's third largest fish producer, with inland fisheries and aquaculture accounting for more than 65% of total production.