Press Release Summary = Hyderabad, November 29, 2006 - At a Meeting held in Hyderabad today the Board of Shantha Biotechnics finalized its decision to invest in a new suite to expand its Hepatitis B vaccine manufacturing capacity at the Company's facilities near Hyderabad.
Press Release Body = Speaking on the occasion Mr. Alain Merieux, Chairman, Merieux Alliance said "We have great respect for the tremendous achievements of the team at Shantha Biotechnics. In a short period of just thirteen years they have achieved many milestones in providing quality products at an affordable cost to people in India and other countries. We are determined to take this work forward so that more people can benefit from the great work being done here. Shantha Biotechnics and the excellent team working here will be the hub of our global development and manufacturing for vaccines and other biological products. As a first step we have decided to make an investment in a state of the art suite for increasing Hepatitis B manufacturing capacity at the facilities near Hyderabad."
Merieux Alliance, which recently acquired 60% share in Shantha Biotechnics, plans to support the activities of the Company with its managerial skills to expand its profitable business in vaccines and biosimilars in India and internationally through its expertise and global network..
Dr. Varaprasad Reddy, Managing Director, Shantha Biotechnics adds, " We are proud to be part of an extended family with a 110 year history in the area of vaccines and human health. Merieux Alliance brings us the strong advantages of its heritage, R & D expertise, its vision and a global network which will help Shantha to grow to the next level. We will work as partners to increase our growth rate, reduce time to market, while maintaining high quality standards. We share a vision of the need for affordable healthcare for all and a strong commitment to the highest international quality standards."
Georges Hibon, newly appointed Executive Chairman of Shantha Biotechnics notes, "Shantha has demonstrated that they have excellent development capabilities. The need of the hour is speed, access to global markets and partnerships with vaccine, biotech and pharma companies for co-development and biomanufacturing to establish rapid growth. We will work with the Shantha team to lend them our management expertise and enable access to global markets through the network of offices of Merieux Alliance companies. ".
Mr. Khalil Ahmed, Executive Director concluded, "We believe the combined expertise will enable us to strengthen our research activites and ultimately accelerate the development of our product portofolio. The new partnership is good for the company as it will create a global R & D hub for vaccine research in India."
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