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Modi govt refreshes plan to prioritise drug discovery, will launch hunt for ‘R&D head’

Modi govt’s efforts seek to address criticism lobbed at India for failing to discover even a single drug molecule despite being the largest producer of generic medicines in the world.

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New Delhi: The Modi government is set to make a fresh push for indigenous drug discovery, and set up a dedicated research and development (R&D) cell to oversee the efforts, ThePrint has learnt.

The efforts seek to address the criticism lobbed at India for failing to discover even a single drug molecule to date despite being the largest producer of generic medicines in the world. 

According to government officers, the drug discovery plan is part of a three-part agenda envisaged for the Indian pharmaceutical industry for 2020. The other two — reducing dependence on ingredients for drugs (active pharmaceutical ingredients, API) from China, and imports for medical devices — were taken care of with the launch of the Production- Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme last month, the officers said.

The PLI scheme promises incentives to local industry for efforts that help meet the two goals. 

The drug discovery scheme was first outlined by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) last year, but took the backseat as the Covid-19 pandemic, which originated in China, led the government to prioritise the PLI policy amid fears of a drug shortfall.   

The DoP, which falls under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, has returned to the drawing board to fine-tune the R&D plan, which will be overseen by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), two senior officials of the department said. 

“The DoP had zeroed in on three priority areas which needed attention this year. The Covid outbreak triggered shortage of drug raw materials in India and, hence, the policy for local manufacturing of these API became the first priority. Now, the PLI scheme will take care of this aspect,” said a senior officer from the DoP.  

“Second is our dependence on imported medical devices. The PLI scheme will look after this aspect as well. So, finally, we will now fix the challenge faced by India in drug discovery,” the officer added. “It is high time we start demonstrating our drug discovery capabilities to the world.”


Also Read: Indian pharma is not sub-par, it is ensuring the world doesn’t face a healthcare crisis


What’s the plan? 

India is home to over 3,000 pharma companies and a network of over 10,500 manufacturing facilities, and is the third-largest seller of medicines in the world. However, it remains out of the club of nations that have demonstrated the capability of developing a new drug molecule.  

In the five-year vision document prepared after the Modi government returned to office last year, the DoP had planned to “stimulate R&D in pharma”.

The same year, the DoP set up an inter-departmental committee to coordinate R&D activities undertaken by various top institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs), and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

ThePrint had reported at the time that the panel, led by DoP secretary P.D. Vaghela, had “proposed to create a separate vacancy for the post of R&D head”.

The plan remains the same even now, the two officers said.

“We have started working on finalising the role and key responsibility areas of the R&D head,” said the second officer, adding that “every step is taken after discussing it with representatives of premier institutes such as IITs, NIPER and BIRAC”. 

“A separate cell will be made under the ambit of DoP which will coordinate with all top institutes in India for the latest project,” the officer said. 


Also Read: Can India balance its domestic pharma needs and also be a global player in Covid-19 fight?


Top pharma companies to be involved

The department has started drawing up a “research action plan”. “A list will be made about the top projects that require urgent attention and all resources will be made available through us,” said the second officer

The DoP, which is responsible for making policies related to drugs and medical devices in India, may also play an important role in connecting pharmaceutical giants with molecule innovators working at government and private laboratories.

“We will act as a common link between industry and research bodies. We are hopeful that the policy will soon show big results,” said the second officer.


Also Read: Why India saw only 4 pharma products launched in April, its lowest count ever


 

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