Panacea Biotec shares up 5% as phase-3 trial of India's first dengue vaccine 'DengiAll' begins

The stock was trading 5.2% higher at ₹166.4 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The company's market capitalisation stands at ₹1,019.7 crore.

DengiAll: India’s first dengue vaccine enters phase 3 – All you need to know

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Panacea Biotec Ltd have started the first-ever phase 3 clinical trial of the made-in-India dengue vaccine 'DengiAll'.

Panacea Biotec developed the Indigenous tetravalent dengue vaccine, and the trial will evaluate its efficacy. The first participant in this trial was vaccinated on Wednesday at Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak.

Presently, there is no antiviral treatment or licensed vaccine against dengue in India.

The tetravalent dengue vaccine strain, first developed by the US-based National Institutes of Health (NIH), has shown promising results globally in preclinical and clinical trials. Panacea Biotec, one of three Indian firms to receive the strain, is at the most advanced stage of development.

"The company has worked extensively on these strains to develop a full-fledged vaccine formulation and holds a process patent," the government said.

Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of the Indian vaccine formulation were conducted in 2018-19, and the results were promising.

Panacea Biotec, in collaboration with ICMR, will conduct the phase 3 clinical trial in 18 states and union territories (UTs), involving over 10,000 healthy adult participants.

Dengue is one of the major public concerns in India, and India ranks among the top 30 nations with the highest incidence of this mosquito-spread disease.

The number of cases of dengue has been steadily rising over the past two decades, with over 129 countries reporting dengue viral disease by the end of 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).