India’s Zydus Cadila inks deal to produce varicella vaccine in Russia

Zydus Cadila, an Indian injectables maker, said it reached a deal with Russia’s Pharm Aid to manufacture its varicella vaccine for the Russian Federation.

The agreement (PDF) was made at a conference in Gelendzhik, Russia, and was brokered by Nacimbio together with Ishvan Pharmaceuticals, the company said. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The Russians have been pressuring foreign pharmaceutical companies to engage in local production if they want to be in its market. Earlier this year, Russia-based NovaMedica announced it began work on a new plant in Russia’s Kaluga region where it will produce 30 of Pfizer’s sterile injected generic medications for the local market.

“As an innovation-driven global healthcare player our aim has always been to bridge unmet healthcare needs by improving accessibility to preventives and novel therapies,” Dr. Sharvil Patel, managing director, Zydus Cadila, said in a statement. “By being a technology enabler, I believe we are taking yet another important step in realizing this mission.”

As part of the deal, Zydus gains access to the public and private market segments in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The focus of the agreement is to produce a continuous supply of vaccines that could become part of Russia’s critical childhood immunization program. The company estimates there could be about 3 million doses per year for its chickenpox vaccine in the Russian Federation alone.