Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical major, Cadila Healthcare Ltd (Zydus Cadila), has entered into an agreement with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to explore a possible collaboration in the development of a drug for the treatment of rabies, through the use of monoclonal antibodies.

Under the agreement, WHO would be providing antibodies capable of neutralising rabies virus and genetic sequences thereof for evaluation at the Zydus Research Center. The agreement would provide a stepping stone for the development and commercialisation of the cocktail, to be used as an adjuvant therapy.

The therapy, if developed and commercialized, could herald a new approach in the fight against this fatal disease, the company claims. Currently, there is no treatment for rabies once the symptoms of the disease have appeared.

Rabies, a viral disease which gets transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal, affects the central nervous system. It is widespread globally across Europe, Asia, America and Africa.

As per an estimate, approximately 10 million people each year are treated after exposure to rabies globally. Some 40,000 to 70,000 people die of the disease each year, mainly in Africa, China and India.

Zydus currently manufactures and markets rabies vaccines - VaxiRab and Lyssavac N.