Vaccine major Biological E Limited’s (BE) chairman and managing director Vijay Kumar Datla (67) passed away here Wednesday.
A doctor by profession, Datla founded BE in 1953. The firm has now evolved into one of the largest vaccine producers in India.
According to the company, every third child in the country is given vaccines supplied by BE. Datla played a key role in building the organization and believed in supplying basic vaccines to the masses at affordable prices.
At present, his company supplies more than 60 per cent of its vaccines to the government of India.
Based in Hyderabad, Datla worked towards indigenously developing the country’s first Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine during 2011-2012. BE also has a pentavalent vaccine, which is currently being supplied to UNICEF.