The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has placed an order of Rs 143 Crore before Panacea Biotec, a biotechnology firm of India, for supplying vaccine 'EasyFive' that fights five infectious diseases of early childhood. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Panacea Biotec mentioned that it is the first Indian company to receive such an order from UNICEF for its vaccines in fully liquid form.     

The Indian biotechnology company further said that this order will remain in force from this year onwards till 2009. The World Health Organization’s pre-qualification for its pentavalent vaccine in fully liquid form was received by Panacea Biotec previous month. It is a mandatory provision for drug companies, who wish to supply drugs to any UN agency internationally.

The 'EasyFive' is termed as pentavalent as it is a combination of five vaccines. It provides protection against contagious diseases such as Diphtheria, Tetanus and Hepatitis-B and has a market of more than Rs 4,000 Crore per year internationally. The agencies of United Nation alone are expected to buy away vaccines worth Rs 1,500 Crore by next year.