Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), an Indian vaccine manufacturer, has announced a partnership with Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Mumbai, and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institute for the commercial development of vaccines against common bacterial diseases in freshwater fishes, the company said in a statement on Monday.

IIL forayed into the Aqua business in October 2022 by launching products for aquaculture health market dealing with pond management and fish or shrimp gut management.

Aquaculture sectors play a vital role in meeting the rising global protein demand as the world population is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. India is the 3rd largest fish producer in the global sphere and more than 65 per cent of India’s fish is through Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture. In terms of employment, the sector supports the livelihood of over 28 million people in India especially the marginalised and vulnerable communities. Export earnings from the fisheries sector were USD 7.76 billion during 2021-2022.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited said, “IIL has introduced several innovative veterinary vaccines first to the world, like Porcine Cysticercosis vaccine, FMD+HS+BQ combination vaccine and Theileria vaccine. IIL is again the first in India to get to fish vaccines. We are committed to introducing more and more products for the aquaculture market and helping shrimp and fish growers to increase their productivity and protect fish schools from various diseases".

IIL will strive to explore solutions for the prevailing challenges faced by Indian fish farmers in their farm production system. CIFE will provide technology for two inactivated bacterial vaccines, one for Columnaris Disease, a serious condition affecting numerous freshwater fish species, and other for Edwardsiellosis which causes a high degree of mortality, leading to severe economic losses. Both diseases are extremely common in freshwater fishes and are generally considered to be ubiquitous, the company's statement said.

Aquaculture in India suffers economic losses due to infections caused by several bacterial, viral, fungal, and other aetiological agents. Currently these infections are being managed by anti-infectives and other conventional measures with varying degree of success. 

With the rising concern pertaining to anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and chemical-free food products both at global and domestic platforms, there is a growing need for better control measures against these infections. Currently, there are no fish vaccines available in India on a commercial scale to prevent aquaculture infections, the statement stated.