Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Drugs Controller Directorate has given city-based Noble Pharmacare Limited the licence to manufacture 0.5 ml Auto Disable (AD) syringes, official sources said.
These syringes are recommended by the WHO and UNICEF for mass immunization programmes because of their single-use nature.
“We saw the on-coming demand and revamped our existing production line to design an 0.5 ML syringe. We indigenously developed it and then applied for licence with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO),” said Subrat Garabadu, Managing Director of the company that was established in 1989 with technical collaboration of Germany-based PharmaPlan.
Bigger syringes lead to wastage of the vaccines, and hence these 0.5 ml syringes are required, he explained.
There are only three manufacturers of 0.5 ml auto-disable syringes in the country, he informed.
Last month, the Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited (OSMCL) floated tenders for procurement of 1.06 crore 0.5 ml AD syringes and there had been no bidders.
