In a first, Hyderabad-based firm to develop fish vaccines

Vaccine maker Indian Immunologicals Limited becomes “the first in India” to venture into fish vaccine development.

The Hyderabad based firm has on Monday announced a partnership with Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai, for the commercial development of a vaccine against common bacterial diseases in freshwater fishes.

At present, there is no fish vaccine available in India on a commercial scale to prevent aquaculture infections.

India is the third largest fish producer globally and more than 65 per cent of India’s fish yield is through inland fisheries and aquaculture. In terms of employment, the sector supports the livelihood of over 28 million people especially the marginalised and vulnerable communities. Export earnings from the fisheries sector was $7.76 billion during 2021-2022.

However, aquaculture in India suffers economic losses due to infections caused by several bacterial, viral, fungal, and other aetiological agents.

“Currently these infections are being managed by anti-infectives and other conventional measures with varying degrees of success. With the rising concern pertaining to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and chemical free food products both at global and domestic platforms, there is a growing need for better control measures against these infections,” IIL said in a statement.

CIFE will provide technology for two inactivated bacterial vaccines, one for Columnaris Disease, a serious condition affecting numerous freshwater fish species, and other for Edwardsiellosis that cause high degree of mortality, leading to severe economic losses. Both the diseases are extremely common in freshwater fishes and are generally considered to be ubiquitous.

Dr K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said, “IIL has introduced several innovative veterinary vaccines first to the world, like Porcine Cysticercosis vaccine, FMD+HS+BQ combination vaccine and Theileria vaccine. IIL is again the first in India to get into fish vaccine development. We are committed to introducing more and more products for the aquaculture market and help shrimp and fish growers to increase their productivity and protect fish schools from various diseases".

IIL has forayed into Aqua business in October 2022 by launching products for aquaculture health market dealing with pond management and fish or shrimp gut management.

“IIL is planning to introduce vaccines and immunostimulants with tech transfer from various fisheries institutes under ICAR. Several fish vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated by IIL for commercialisation. Launch of such vaccines may have a positive impact on reducing indiscriminate use of chemical or antibiotic based treatment methods, helping reduce antimicrobial resistance by fish farmers practising environmentally sustainable ways of pond and fish health management,” Dr Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said.