Rotavac

Rotavac is a new rotavirus vaccine that has been entirely developed and tested in India.

Rotavirus gastroenteritis, which causes the diarrhoea, can easily be combated by vaccination.

It has been estimated that 4,50,000 lives could be saved in a year with the rotavirus vaccine, most of them in poorer parts of the world.

According to the WHO, between 90,000 and 1,53,000 children in India alone die from rotavirus infection.

There are other rotavirus vaccines that have existed for many years. But Rotavac could potentially upend the market, with its dramatically low cost of around Rs 50, a dollar a pop.

Pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck have their own versions, Rotarix and RotaTeq, which cost between Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,400.