The Government provides soft loan to Indian Pharma industries including small
scale for Research and Development (R&D) activities which includes support
for instruments under the Drugs and Pharmaceutical Research Programme of the
Department of Science and Technology (DST). The Government also provides
partial support for pilot plant equipment & machinery including specialized
equipment to industry, including small scale units in any sector, including the
pharmaceutical sector for development and demonstration of innovative
technologies through the PACE (Patent Acquisition and Collaborative Research
and Technology Development) scheme of the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research (DSIR). Under Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance
Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking of the Department of Biotechnology
(DBT), Innovation Research is funded to StartUp’s and SME’s in the Biotech
Sector, which also includes pharma units for developing affordable health care
products. The innovation research component includes some equipment which are
required for the research activities.
The
details of research projects funded by the Government through national laboratories
for small scale pharma units during last three years are given at Annexure-1.
Other
steps being taken by the Government are as follows:
The Department of
Science & Technology under Ministry of Science & Technology has been
implementing a Plan Scheme (Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Research Programme –
DPRP) since 1994-95 for promoting R&D in Drugs & Pharmaceutical Sector
with the following objectives:
·
To
synergise the strengths of publicly funded R&D institutions and Indian
Pharmaceutical Industry;
·
To
create an enabling infrastructure, mechanisms and linkages to facilitate new
drug development;
·
To
stimulate skill development of human resources in R&D for drugs and
pharmaceuticals;
·
To
extend soft loan for Pharma industrial R&D projects;
·
To
enhance the nation’s self-reliance in drugs and pharmaceuticals especially in
areas critical to national health requirements.
Under this programme as on today 110
industries - institutional alliances both in modern and Indian systems of
medicine including veterinary drugs have been funded. The programme has
supported R&D projects on Tuberculosis, Malaria, Diarrhoea, Filariasis,
Diabetes, Psychosomatic disorders, Kala Azar, Cataract, Cancer, Dementia,
HIV/AIDS, Anti Fungal, Anti Virals, Anti Cancer, Anti Bacterial, Anti Rabies,
Anti Obesity, Anti Asthma, Arthritis, Anti Amoebisis etc., vaccine for Dengue,
Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis-B etc.
48 state-of-the art infrastructure for Pharmaceutical
R&D have been created in different premier institutions and Universities on
Bio-availability, Pharmakoinformatics, Regulatory Toxicology, Safety
Pharmacology at NIPER, Mohali, Pharmacokinetic & Metabolic Studies,
Regulatory Pharmacology & Toxicology, Medium Throughput Screening at CDRI,
Lucknow; Transgenic & Gene Knockout Mice, Clinical Research facility to
Stem Cell Technologies and regenerative medicine, Biosafety Level 4 Laboratory
at CCMB, Hyderabad, Bioequivalence, Pharmacovigilance, New Chemical Entities
development, Animal Facility for Indian System of Medicine etc. have been
created in other Universities & Institutions.
Since 2004-05, the programme extended 73 soft Loans for
Indian Pharma Industry R&D projects at a simple interest rate of 3% per
annum with repayment duration of 10 years. Also from 2008-09, the programme
supported three grants-in-aid projects to Indian Pharma industries for
conducting clinical trials in neglected diseases such as malaria, kala-azar,
etc.
Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research (DSIR) launched a scheme in the 12th five year plan - PRISM (Promoting
Innovations in Individuals, Start-ups and MSMEs) where it is proposed to
support innovative projects in MSMEs, including those in the pharmaceutical
sector, through public funded R&D institutions including national laboratories.
Department
of Biotechnology (DBT) is encouraging the Indian Biotechnology Industries to
participate in research projects in collaboration with academic institutions.
The calls for proposals are regularly invited for strengthening the SME’s both
at national and international level.
The Department of Science
& Technology (DST) has set up Sophisticated Analytical Instrument
Facilities (SAIFs) in different parts of the country to provide the facilities
of sophisticated analytical instruments to the research workers in general and
specially from the institutions which do not have such instruments through its
Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facilities (SAIF) programme to enable them
to pursue R&D activities requiring such facilities and keep pace with
developments taking place globally. The SAIFs are equipped with sophisticated
analytical instruments to meet the needs of research workers in various areas
of science & technology. The instrument facilities at the SAIFs are
accessible to all the users and are being used extensively by the researchers
from all parts of the country. These facilities are being used by small scale
pharma units also.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and
Ministry of Earth Sciences (Independent Charge) Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written
reply in Lok Sabha today.
*****
ST/jk
ANNEXURE-1
R&D
projects are funded to R&D institutes, academic institutions and pharma
industry as a joint project under Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Research Programme
(DPRP) of Department of Science and Technology. The R&D projects funded
through national laboratories during the last three years under this Programme
are as follows:
|
S. No
|
Project Title
|
Institute name/
Industry name
|
|
1.
|
Replacement of
herbal roots used in traditional Ayurvedic formulation by substitution with
other parts
|
National
Institute for Interdisciplinary
Science &
Technology, Thiruvananthapuram and Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal
|
The
list of research projects funded by the Department of Biotechnology through
national laboratories for small scale pharma units is as follows:
|
S. No.
|
Research project
|
National Laboratory
|
Industry involved
|
|
1.
|
Detoxification and
utilization of key agro-forest based non conventional oil cakes in the
feeding of livestock
|
Indian Veterinary Research Institute,
Bareilly, U.P.
|
Ayurvet Ltd., Solan and Ganesh Scientific Research Foundation, Kirti
Nagar, Delhi
|
|
2.
|
DBT Network Project on
Brucellosis
|
Project Directorate On
Animal Disease Monitoring And Surveillance, Hebbal, Bangalore
|
GENOMIX Molecular
Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Kukatpally, Hyderabad
|
|
3.
|
Isolation and
characterization of food borne pathogens using Next Generation Sequencing
Platform : Development of PCR based detection Kits
|
National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad
|
Bioservebiotechnolgies
(india) Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
|
****