Elder : News - News & Happenings

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

The BIRD flu virus may have created a scare and badly hit the poultry industry, but it has thrown up new opportunities for pharmaceutical companies. Elder Pharmaceuticals is launching a spray product, Trigene, to contain bird flu in poultry farms. Trigene, which is already selling in China, is manufactured by UK-based Medichem and is a first from Elder’s containment business. Speaking to HT Alok Saxena, MD, Elder Pharmaceuticals, said there is growing focus in India’s healthcare industry to contain cross contamination. The company is already marketing this product in a small way to Escorts and Bombay Hospital. However, given the response to the product, Elder plans to manufacture the chemicals under licence in India. The current market for Trigene could be as much as Rs 20 crore, industry insider say. According to the company, the initial trials of the chemical have been encouraging and poultry farms have reported drop in birth deaths after using the product. Bird flu containment systems demand has sprung up in India after the virus strain was found in the country. Last month, a Korean delegation visited India to scout for distributors of their bird flu products. A major problem faced by poultry farms in India after the avian influenza scare has been the containment of the virus strain. Without any such mechanism, mortality among birds is high. The product would help cut down the mortality rate, not by killing the virus, but by containing its spread, a poultry farm owner said.

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