The government has stepped up efforts to develop and provide new and affordable drugs for malaria, osteoporosis and diabetes to meet increasing demands, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday. The new medicines, which are currently undergoing clinical trials, would be showcased by the Indian pharmaceutical sector soon.
“I am confident that the drug laboratories under CSIR are capable of backing up the Swasth Bharat Mission. Our scientists are focusing on both infectious and life-style diseases. We are developing next-generation drugs, biologics, biosimilars, gene therapeutics, stem cell therapeutics, personalised medicine and multifunctional nanomedicine,” the minister said.
The drugs are being developed at Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI, Lucknow). Talking to the media persons after a visit to CDRI, he said that research and development efforts in government laboratories under the wing of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have a track record in making drugs for kalaazar, filaria, leprosy and tuberculosis available at affordable rates to the common man.
“The pharmaceutical sector would soon be showcasing new drugs for malaria, osteoporosis and diabetes,” Vardhan said. He announced that simultaneously, the CDRI is carrying out Investigational New Drug (IND) studies on lead molecules for fracture-healing, cancers, thrombosis, malaria and hyperglycemia.
It would strive to build a new generation of enterprises in the healthcare sector, he said. He also announced that government would soon set up the Biopharma Industry Incubator (BII) under the umbrella of CDRI Lucknow.
He added that recently the IMTECH, Chandigarh has developed a clot specific streptokinase; IIIM, Jammu has discovered natural product-based potential medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, IICB Kolkata has developed herbal extract for the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia.
“I am confident that the drug laboratories under CSIR are capable of backing up the Swasth Bharat Mission. Our scientists are focusing on both infectious and life-style diseases. We are developing next-generation drugs, biologics, biosimilars, gene therapeutics, stem cell therapeutics, personalised medicine and multifunctional nanomedicine,” the minister said.
The drugs are being developed at Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI, Lucknow). Talking to the media persons after a visit to CDRI, he said that research and development efforts in government laboratories under the wing of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have a track record in making drugs for kalaazar, filaria, leprosy and tuberculosis available at affordable rates to the common man.
“The pharmaceutical sector would soon be showcasing new drugs for malaria, osteoporosis and diabetes,” Vardhan said. He announced that simultaneously, the CDRI is carrying out Investigational New Drug (IND) studies on lead molecules for fracture-healing, cancers, thrombosis, malaria and hyperglycemia.
It would strive to build a new generation of enterprises in the healthcare sector, he said. He also announced that government would soon set up the Biopharma Industry Incubator (BII) under the umbrella of CDRI Lucknow.
He added that recently the IMTECH, Chandigarh has developed a clot specific streptokinase; IIIM, Jammu has discovered natural product-based potential medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, IICB Kolkata has developed herbal extract for the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia.