Panacea Biotec bags orders worth USD 24 mn from UN agencies

Panacea Biotec on Thursday said it has bagged orders worth USD 24.32 million (over Rs 170 crore) from UN agencies, including Unicef, for the supply of the Pentavalent vaccine. The vaccine protects children against five deadly diseases, including diphtheria, tetanus and hepatitis B.

"Panacea Biotec... has received awards worth USD 24.32 million from U N agencies (Unicef and PAHO) for the supply of its Easyfive-TT, a fully liquid WHO prequalified wP-based Pentavalent vaccine (DTwPHepB-Hib)," the company said in a filing to BSE. The award of order from Unicef is for the calendar year 2020 and from PAHO is for three calendar years--2020 to 2022.

Pediatric vaccination plays an important role to achieve Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, in particular, the target to reduce the under-five mortality rate to less than 25 per 1,000 live births. "Pentavalent vaccine protects children against five deadly diseases; Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hepatitis B and invasive infections caused by Haemophilus Influenza Type b - becoming the foundation of pediatric immunization programs across the world," the company said.