Faster than the virus
By Anton Paar
In the past, due to cost, the polio vaccine in India was only ever administered as an oral vaccination. Indian businessman Cyrus S Poonawalla’s proposal was to produce a low-cost injectable polio vaccine (IPV) as part of his long-term vision to protect every single child in India and eventually worldwide from the worst childhood diseases. In his quest to create the affordable IPV, he turned to the expertise and technology of Bilthoven Biologicals, a Dutch vaccine manufacturer and research institute located near Ultrecht, as Maurice Mooijman and Christine Maitz of Anton Paar explain.