WHO grants prequalification GC Biopharma's varicella vaccine, Barycela

The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted prequalification for the firm's varicella vaccine, Barycela, according to GC Biopharma, a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in South Korea. Barycela is now eligible for procurement by United Nations agencies, including the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), for use in national immunisation programmes as a result of the WHO prequalification decision.

Barycela is now one of three PQ vaccines obtained by GC Biopharma, along with H1N1 pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines. Barycela is a varicella virus vaccine containing the MAV/06 strain, which has been exclusively attenuated by GC Biopharma. While containing more virus, this new vaccine has a higher level of product stability than its predecessor. Barycela has also demonstrated non-inferior immunogenicity with an equivalent level of safety to "Varivax," a market-available prequalified vaccine.

Furthermore, from cell culture and virus infection to purification, Barycela is produced in a state-of-the-art aseptic environment, making it the world's only varicella vaccine produced without the use of antibiotics. With the WHO's prequalification decision, MAV/06 strain has moved a step closer to being registered in the WHO Technical Report Series (TRS) along with the previously listed OKA strain. The next step for GC Biopharma is to take Barycela to global markets. The plan is to use the global supply network for Suduvax, the company's existing varicella vaccine.

"We hope that Barycela will continue to contribute to lowering the world's social and economic costs associated with varicella outbreaks." GC Biopharma's president, EC Huh, Ph.D. Developed in 1993, GC Biopharma's Suduvax is Korea's first and the world's second varicella vaccine. Over 28million doses of the vaccine have been sold worldwide over the past 3 decades through PAHO and others, proving its high level of safety. GC Biopharma (formerly known as Green Cross Corporation) is a biopharmaceutical company that delivers life-saving and life-sustaining protein therapeutics and vaccines. Headquartered in Yongin, South Korea, GC Biopharma is one of the leading plasma protein and vaccine product manufacturers globally and has been dedicated to quality healthcare solutions for more than half a century.