Kasauli institute to enhance anti-sera production

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 20

In a bid to perk up its earnings, Kasauli-based Central Research Institute is contemplating creating a separate anti-sera manufacturing facility. The institute is in the process of acquiring 128 bighas from the state government. An exclusive facility for manufacturing the therapeutic anti-sera which is much in demand across the country will be set up on the land.

At present, the institute manufactures some quantity of anti-sera for rabies, diphtheria and snake bite.

Anti-sera are a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings.

It is created by milking venom from the snake. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, sheep, rabbit or goat. The animal undergoes an immune response to the venom producing antibodies against the venom’s active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal’s blood and used to cure venomous bites. Anti-venoms are supposed to conform to the standards laid by the World Health Organisation.

Since the other products manufactured by the institute, including the DPT and TT vaccines, have failed to find buyers as a majority of the states have now opted for the pentavalent vaccine, the institute is forced to slow down the production of these vaccines.

An official of the institute said they were contemplating achieving a 10-fold increase in the manufacturing capacity in the new facility. Once the land is finalised, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will appoint a vendor who will set up the new manufacturing facility as per the laid norms.

The institute had been facing several problems in enhancing its anti-sera production from the existing premises. Lack of availability of horses was one of them and as against the requirements of 100 horses, only 83 were available. With a majority of them being aged, the institute was trying hard to find new stock. Earlier, the institute was regularly getting horses discarded by the armed forces or the police and this helped them maintain a healthy stock.

Similarly, the strict guidelines laid down by the Animal Welfare Board had reduced the number of vendors supplying snakes as snake rearing was supposed to be undertaken under strict norms.