Franchising Rabies Vaccine Delivery: The Case of Indian Immunologicals

K. V. Balasubramaniam of Indian Immunologicals Ltd. describes their motivation to develop one of the largest vaccine delivery franchises in the world, with over 3,000 locations across India: There's an inadequate or poor supply of free vaccines in the public health system, and we don't have universal credibility of the cold chain…so the poorer class near the poverty line has to go and stand in a queue to get the vaccine, to immunize their children. We wanted to bridge that gap. Give the quality, maintain cold chain, affordability, and proper availability throughout the country with a network of qualified people. …We deal with infrastructure that already exists because otherwise we cannot deal with rural costs. It won't be affordable anymore. —K. V. Balasubramaniam, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd.