Two major pharmaceutical companies to develop cholera vaccine

New Delhi: Two global pharmaceutical firms - Hilleman Laboratories and Gotovax AB - Tuesday joined hands to develop affordable oral cholera vaccine.

"Our partnership with Gotovax AB is carefully aligned to Hilleman Laboratories' core philosophy of addressing unmet health needs of the underprivileged by developing accessible and innovative vaccines which are affordable," Hilleman Laboratories' chief executive officer Davinder Gill said.

Hilleman Laboratories is a Merck & Co and UK-based Wellcome Trust joint venture while Gotovax AB is a bio-pharmaceutical firm.

"There is an urgent need for highly effective and affordable Cholera vaccines both for outbreaks as well as mass vaccination campaigns.

"Cholera is endemic in over 50 countries with estimated mortality of 100,000-120,000 deaths each year and a morbidity of 3.8-4.4 million annual cases attributed to this disease," he added.