Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), a leading biologicals company, on Monday announced the ground-breaking of a new Sterile Filling Facility (SFF) in Genome Valley on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The facility is coming up with an investment of Rs 75 crore at IIL’s manufacturing plant in Phase III of Genome Valley, Karkapatla, Ranga Reddy district.

With this facility, IIL expects to increase its capacity to supply lifesaving vaccines such as the Anti Rabies Vaccine (ARV) – Abhayrab.

The new state of the art facility, expected to be ready some time next year, will be equipped with high-end filling equipment from the world’s best manufacturers, the Hyderabad-headquartered company said in a statement.

“The IIL has a long history of supplying vaccines critical to public health. We are constantly striving to make the vaccines affordable and accessible to reach the benefits of preventive healthcare to the maximum number of people. The expansion at Karkapatla plant is in line with our mission and will help meet the growing requirements of critical vaccines,” said K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director, IIL.

Various reports in the past few months indicate that several states in the country have reported shortages of ARV, due to a combination of factors including growing demand, imperfect demand signals and supply disruptions. Reports indicate that the shortages sometimes extend to 60-80 per cent.

The IIL has four manufacturing facilities at various locations – Karkapatla, Telangana – Human Vaccines and Animal Health Formulations; Ooty, Tamil Nadu – Anti Rabies production unit; Hyderabad, Telangana a Human Biologicals Unit (Gachibowli) and animal vaccines unit; Dargaville, New Zealand – New Bovine Serum.

The IIL exports various human and animal vaccines to over 50 countries and currently employs around 1,300 people.