DUHS Marks Milestone in Rabies Control with Pakistan’s First Indigenous Human Anti-Rabies Vaccine

Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) proudly announces a historic breakthrough in public health: the successful lab-scale formulation of Pakistan’s first indigenous human anti-rabies vaccine. This purified, inactivated, lyophilized vaccine has been developed from a locally isolated rabies virus strain, marking a critical step forward in the fight against rabies in Pakistan.

Under the visionary leadership of Meritorious Professor Mohammed Saeed Quraishy T.I Vice Chancellor DUHS and guided by Principal Investigator Dr. Talat Roome, this achievement highlights DUHS’s commitment to innovative, impact-driven research. The project was led at the Dow Institute for Advanced Biological and Animal Research (DIABAR) and funded by the Grand Challenge Fund (GCF) under the Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project—supported by the World Bank and implemented by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

With lab-scale success achieved, the project will now progress to the manufacturing of clinical trial batches for Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approval, bringing us closer to national vaccine production and use.

This accomplishment would not have been possible without strong collaboration from national partners, including DESTO’s Bio-Resources Center, Sindh Institute of Animal Health, and the Center for Bioequivalence Studies and Clinical Research (CBSCR), ICCBS, University of Karachi, led respectively by Prof. Saifullah Khan, Dr. Nazeer Hussain Kalhoro, and Prof. Raza Shah. Special congratulations go to the dedicated team of scientists and technical staff at DIABAR, whose tireless efforts have set a national benchmark. Their contribution paves the way for a rabies-free Pakistan, reflecting resilience, innovation, and hope in our healthcare system.