The launch in India of a more effective and economical new treatment for rabies developed by scientists at MassBiologics of UMass Medical School “speaks to the very special nature of the medical school,” Chancellor Michael F. Collins told the Telegram & Gazette.
“Part of our mission (at UMass) is to actively have a global view of changing the course of the history of disease,” said Chancellor Collins in the Nov. 1 Telegram article.
The Serum Institute of India announced on Oct. 31 the global launch of Rabishield, a rabies monoclonal antibody developed in partnership with UMMS. Rabies kills an estimated 20,000 people every year—two people every hour—in India. Rabishield, a U.S.-patented product, will help close the gaps in rabies prevention and is expected to significantly reduce the rabies mortality rate in India. Collins and Mark S. Klempner, MD, executive vice chancellor for MassBiologics and professor of medicine, attended the Rabishield launch event in Mumbai.
“It’s rare—rare indeed—for an academic organization to take things all the way from the discovery piece” to the actual distribution of a drug, Dr. Klempner told the Telegram. “It’s one of those moments you stand up very proud.”
Learn more in the Telegram story:
Rabies treatment developed at UMass Medical is launched in India
Related story on UMassMedNow:
Serum Institute of India launches Rabishield, developed in partnership with UMMS
