Breakthrough Oral Cholera Vaccine
A significant public health milestone has been achieved by Hilleman Laboratories and its partner Bharat Biotech with the launch of HILLCHOL®, a breakthrough oral cholera vaccine. As a joint venture between MSD and Wellcome, Hilleman Laboratories is a first-of-its-kind vaccine development hub, dedicated to rapid end-to-end research and vaccine development for low- and middle-income countries.
The collaborative and strategic pathway established for this new vaccine began in Sweden at The University of Gothenburg and its spin-off biopharma company, Gotovax AB, which developed the strain of inactivated cholera that forms the core of HILLCHOL® and before Hilleman Laboratories conducted Phase II clinical trials. Hilleman Laboratories had developed the vaccine through Phase II clinical research and transferred it to Bharat Biotech.
The collaboration between Hilleman Laboratories and Bharat Biotech, an Indian multinational biotechnology company, led to the launch of HILLCHOL®. HILLCHOL® Phase III clinical trials have been successfully completed and Bharat Biotech has approved it for licensing in India. Bharat Biotech intends to submit HILLCHOL® for World Health Organization (WHO) approval for global distribution.
Unlike existing cholera vaccines which contain more than one strain, HILLCHOL® uses a single, genetically engineered inactivated ‘Hikojima’ strain delivered orally, resulting in significantly lower production costs and a greater availability of vaccine at a time when cholera outbreaks and epidemics are more frequent.With two doses given 14 days apart, this best-in-class OCV prevents infection against two of the main cholera serotypes (Ogawa and Inaba) & suitable for children over one year of age and adolescents up to 18 years old.
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC (MSD), a global pharmaceutical company committed to research, and Wellcome, a global charitable foundation dedicated to human and animal health, formed Hilleman Laboratories in 2009. The mission of Hilleman Laboratories is to develop affordable vaccines and biologics against infectious diseases that affect low- and middle-income countries.Hilleman Laboratories’ focus on finding an affordable cholera vaccine has been part of a wider effort to address unmet medical needs associated with Rotavirus, Shigella, and Escherichia coli (ETEC).
The organisation has expanded its capacity and capabilities since moving to Singapore in 2021 and has adopted a biotechnology platform-based approach, allowing it to develop solutions for a wider spectrum of diseases and respond to various outbreaks quickly.It collaborates with local, regional, and global stakeholders, including policymakers and governments, to facilitate greater, affordable access to life-saving vaccines and biologics.Hilleman Laboratories is currently developing vaccines that could benefit up to 500 million people in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr. Raman Rao, CEO of Hilleman Laboratories said, “From day one our mission has been to develop affordable vaccines and biologics against infectious diseases for countries with the most severe unmet medical needs. This new vaccine delivers on that pledge and provides an innovative template for the internationalisation of future vaccine and biologics development from Singapore, that can positively impact global health.
Picture Source: Hilleman Laboratories