Indian Immunologicals enters Aquaculture Health Segment to tap farmed shrimp and fish market

Human and animal vaccines maker Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) has entered into the Aquaculture Health Segment aiming to target the growing market for farmed shrimp and fish in the country.

Aquaculture segment is comprised of fish and shrimp. Shrimp farming has been a huge success in India. The farmed shrimp industry is expected to grow by 11 per cent against a global growth rate of 5.6 per cent, as per government estimates.

IIL’s foray into the aquaculture segment will be done in multiple phases comprising multiple products including vaccines, the company said in a statement. IIL, as a health company, produces multiple types of vaccines for multiple species such as humans, cattle, sheeps and goats, pigs, and companion animals.

India is also the second largest farmed-shrimp producer in the world. India’s global market share in the shrimp business is 14 per cent. India’s annual shrimp production is around 600,000 metric ton which aggregates to more than $3 billion with a CAGR of 32 per cent since 2010.

India’s shrimp industry primarily includes two species, White leg Shrimp and Black Tiger Shrimp. Approximately 40 per cent of shrimp is exported to the US followed by approximately 30 per cent to Vietnam and nearly 15 per cent to European Union. The export market strictly demands antibiotic-free products.

“IIL, with its strong R&D team, has all the technological capabilities to manufacture vaccines for aqua health management,” Dr. Priyabrata Pattnaik, Deputy Managing Director of Hyderabad-based IIL said.

Total fish production in India in 2018 is estimated at 6.24 million metric tons (MMT). The growth in the fish farming sector mainly comes from the freshwater aquaculture sector. Though India holds the second position in the world for freshwater fish farmed production, freshwater fish farming in India is still based on traditional methods – large ponds, no water exchange, no draining, and no bottom sediment removal – that often lead to conditions that promote disease.

Many fish farmers are tempted to use a high dose of antibiotics to treat such diseases, which ultimately leads to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

IIL, set up by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1982 as a one health company, through its foray into the aquaculture health segment intend to play a role in minimising the use of antibiotics, ultimately protecting our environment and health, it said in a statement.

IIL has multiple GMP manufacturing sites and exports to over 50 countries.