Poliomyelitis is highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus. It is also known as polio or infantile paralysis. The virus belongs to genus Enterovirus which is a type of single-stranded RNA virus. The virus is transmitted primarily via the fecal-oral route, by injesting contaminated food or water and less commonly through oral-oral route.
Major Players in the Polio Vaccines Industry:
1) Merck & C. Inc.
Merck, is a pharmaceutical institution based in America. The company’s headquarters are situated in Rahway, New Jersey. The company gets its name from Merck Group that was established in Germany in the year 1668. In the year 2022 the company ranked 71st in the Fortune 500 companies list. And based on the revenues of 2021 it took the place as 87th in the Forbes Global 2000.
In September 2022, Merck announced its plans of acquiring Vence, a livestock management company, incorporating it within Merck Animal Health.
2) Pfizer Inc.
Pfizer Inc. is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in America. It was founded in the year 1849. Pfizer manufactures and produces vaccines and medicine related to oncology, neurology, cardiology, and immunology. The corporation has produced various products that yield more than US$1 billion in annual revenue.
The company ranked 64th on the Fortune 500 and 49th on the Forbes Global 2000. The headquarters are located in New York City, U.S. and the products manufactured are sold worldwide. The company was founded by Charles Pfizer and Charles F. Erhart.
As of January 2023, Pfizer Inc. and Abzena have entered into an agreement under which Pfizer will be acquiring Abzena’s manufacturing facility in Sanford, North Carolina.
3) Sanofi Pasteur
Sanofi Pasteur is the vaccines division of the French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi. Sanofi Pasteur is the largest company in the world devoted entirely to vaccines. It is one of four global producers of the yellow fever vaccine. Sanofi Pasteur also produces many generic vaccines. The company was founded in the year 2004, and the headquarters are located in Espace Henry, Lyon, France.
4) Bharat Immunological and Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL)
Bharat Immunological and Biologicals Corporation Limited (BIBCOL) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India. BIBCOL manufactures oral polio vaccines (OPVs) and other immunisers the company formulates over 12.5 crore doses of OPV. Products manufactured include Diarrhea Management Kit, Oral Polio Vaccine, Zinc Dispersible Tablet and others. BIBCOL was founded in the year 1989, and the headquarters are located in Village Chola, District Bulandshahr.
As of December 2022, Sanofi and Innate Pharma SA announced an expansion of their collaboration, with Sanofi licensing a natural killer (NK) cell engager program targeting B7H3 from Innate’s ANKET.
5) Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. is a Chinese biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the research, development, manufacture, and commercialization of vaccines that protect against human infectious diseases. Sinovac's commercialized vaccines include CoronaVac (COVID-19 vaccine), Inlive (Enterovirus 71 vaccine), Anflu (influenza vaccine), Healive (hepatitis A vaccine), varicella vaccine and mumps vaccine. The company was founded in the year 1999, and the headquarters are located in Beijing, China.
As of January 2022, Sinovac has announced that the company has received The World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification for its Poliomyelitis Vaccine.
