26-Jul-2022: Funds for R&D in drug discovery and manufacturing
R&D and innovation in pharma sector is done by number of institutions and organizations under various scientific Ministries/ Departments, which have their own budgetary provisions. Department of Pharmaceuticals has set up seven National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPERs) as institutes of national importance, to nurture and promote quality and excellence in pharmaceutical education and research in India. An outlay of Rs. 1,500 cr. has been approved for strengthening/ up-gradation of these NIPERs for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Department of Pharmaceuticals has also set up an Inter- Departmental Committee (IDC) to periodically review and coordinate research work undertaken by various organizations under different Ministries/ Departments so as to ensure optimum utilization of funds and avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts and resources.
NIPERs, after detailed inter departmental consultations have formulated a programme on ‘Drug Discovery for Affordable Healthcare’ in mission mode and has sought funds from National Research Foundation (NRF). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) through its constituent laboratories has been pursuing R&D activities for drug discovery and development with the total funds committed for ongoing research in the area to the tune of about Rs 53.56 Crore. Department of Biotechnology (DBT), along with its Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has facilitated implementation of R&D projects for drug discovery in the areas of Tuberculosis (TB), Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR), Diabetes, Cancer, Rare Diseases, etc., through the regular schemes of DBT and BIRAC. Department of Scientific & Technology (DST) has recently invited proposals for research in rare diseases with focus to bring generic drugs which are off- patent and to develop process chemistry for drugs under patent to make it affordable once patent expires.
Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare approve new drugs in the country as per provisions of Drugs & Cosmetic Act, 1940 & Rules, made there under. The comprehensive list of all approved drugs is available at https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/en/Approval_new/Approved-New-Drugs/
In USA, the list of all drugs approved by USFDA is available at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/ and in EU, the European Medicines Agency (EMU) publishes medicine-related data on its website and European public assessment reports (EPARs) of all medicines authorized in European Union is available at https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/download-medicine-data#european-public-assessment-reports-(epar)-section.
4-Feb-2022: Development of Infrastructure of NIPERs
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Act was enacted in the year 1998 for setting up of an individual institute of national importance, viz., NIPER at SAS Nagar (Mohali), Punjab. The Act was subsequently amended in the year 2007 permitting establishment of similar institutes in different parts of the country. Six new NIPERs at Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Raebareli and Hajipur were accordingly set up in 2007-08. In December, 2021, the Parliament has passed NIPER (Amendment) Bill, 2021 clarifying amongst others, that existing NIPERs and similar institutes set up subsequently would be institutes of national importance
NIPER at Mohali has a full-fledged campus with state of art laboratories and regular faculty. As regard six other NIPERs set up during 2007-08, the department has provided more than Rs. 1,200 cr. since their inception for their infrastructure and activities. These six NIPERs have since been sanctioned regular faculty and other administrative posts, most of which have been filled up. All these NIPERs have been provided funds for setting up of well-equipped laboratories. The construction of campus of NIPER at Guwahati has almost been completed and construction of campus of NIPER at Ahmedabad is in full swing. Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) in its meeting held on 24th September, 2021 has further approved Rs. 1,500 cr. for the five-year period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 for setting up/ up-gradation of existing seven NIPERs, including construction of their regular campuses.
Expenditure Finance Committee in its last meeting has not supported proposal for creation of new NIPERs at present stage.
10-Nov-2020: 14th Foundation Day Celebrations at NIPER-Hyd
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Hyderabad today celebrated its 14th Foundation Day in a befitting manner. On this occasion, Shri V. K. Saraswat, Padma Bhushan, Member, NITI Aayog, Chancellor, JNU & Former DG, DRDO attended as the chief-guest.
Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT, Chairperson, BIRAC, was the guest of honor and delivered the message on this occasion via online platform.
Dr. Shashi Bala Singh, Director, NIPER-Hyd welcomed all the dignitaries and invitees. During her welcome address, she walked through the 13 years of journey of the institution and its achievements. NIPER-Hyd has secured 5th position in ‘Pharmacy’ category under National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2020. She further mentioned that within short span of time, the institute has cemented itself as a centre of excellence for advanced studies and learning in pharmaceutical sciences globally. Even during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the Institute was able to complete all the academic activities using IT/IoT tools and also successfully conducted the e-Convocation on 24th July, 2020. In addition, the Institute has organized several seminars, workshops, webinars, invited talks and training programs using online platforms. The institute is introducing Medical Devices (MTech) as course and it contains topics related to biology, chemistry, mathematics, clinical science and engineering which are essential for developing Medical Devices.
On this occasion, Institute’s Annual Report 2019-20 was released by the chief guest.
Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Chairperson BIRAC graced the 14th foundation day celebrations of NIPER-Hyderabad as guest of honor. In her address to the gathering, she emphasized the important role played by the pharma sector, current growth in R&D and its translation. She highlighted the importance of NIPER and other research institutes alike in contributing towards the healthcare sector, especially, during challenging situations such as COVID-19. She mentioned the great significance of industry and academic collaboration in making India 100% self-reliant (Aatma Nirbhar Bharat). The unique courses offered by NIPER-Hyd, such as in medical devices, pharmacoinformatics and natural products were comprehended and congratulated the achievements of NIPER-Hyd.
Shri V. K. Saraswat, Padma Bhushan, in his address said that it is indeed a great privilege and honor to have been invited for the 14th Foundation Day of NIPER-Hyd. He expressed that bright pharmaceutical professionals will have a pivotal role in the health care industry globally. In this regard, Indian Pharmaceutical Institutes and Industries have played a vital and critical role in the global pharma market and pointed out the inherent strength of biopharma during COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned the importance of harmonic interactions of various institutes in tackling problems in supply chain, for the growth of bulk drug and intermediates exports, dependency on external markets for Key Starting Materials (KSMs) and APIs. He shed light on Pharma 4.0 for making India self-reliant in dealing with the transformation from data to knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Likewise, he gave a roadmap to evolution of digital advances in technology to improve health outcomes by prioritizing, analyzing and evaluating the data. Also, that the fermentation industries need to be revived along with bulk chemical, green technologies to achieve minimal dependency on imports of pharmaceuticals. He highlighted the importance of phytopharmaceutical research in India for the future and also stressed up on the data management in various sectors using artificial intelligence. Towards the end, he visited NIPER-Hyd research facilities and opined about the training of students for carrying out experiments.
11-Jun-2020: MoS C&F Shri Mandaviya holds review meeting with directors of NIPERs
A meeting of the Directors of National Institute of Pharmaceuticals Education and Research (NIPERs) –Mohali, Raebareli, Hajipur and Guwahati through video conferencing was held under the chairmanship of Shri Mansukh Mandaviya ,Mos Chemicals and Fertilizers here today to review their performance in research & innovation activities especially with regard to the ways in which NIPERs have and can contribute in country’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Mandaviya stressed that the NIPERs can be self-sustainable by generating their own resources through research and testing activities.
He also emphasised that NIPERs should focus not only on the product development, but also the scope of their commercialisation should also be explored.
The Minister suggested also that all NIPERs should try to establish the National level testing labs for the pharma products as a source of revenue generations. Government and Private Sector Pharmaceutical Companies and Agencies can approach NIPERs for use of the Testing Lab on commercial basis.
Shri Mandaviya made his observations on issues raised by various NIPERs.
NIPERs, first presentation was done by Director, NIPER Mohali. He highlighted the various achievements in the field of R&D and pharma education by the Institute. He also made presentation for NIPER Raebareli where he holds the charge of Director. Director, NIPER Guwahati and Director, NIPER Hajipur also made presentation for their Institutes.