At present, there are over 50 major pharma companies worldwide that have joined the race to develop a drug for the novel coronavirus.

By | Published: 12:07 am 10:44 am

Hyderabad: City-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has the ability to roll out a generic version of the COVID19 drug within a few months, in case multinational pharmaceutical companies refuse to sell or share coronavirus drug technology with India.

At present, there are over 50 major pharma companies worldwide that have joined the race to develop a drug for the novel coronavirus. While the drug is still at least a year or 18 months away from the actual launch, the IICT researchers on Friday said that once the drug is launched they would be able to reverse engineer the technology and transfer it to Indian pharmaceutical companies for mass manufacturing.

Such innovation will also go a long way in reducing the costs of the COVID 19 drug, in case the pharmaceutical companies decide to sell their drug for a premium. “If there is any drug or drug for coronavirus available in the market, IICT will be able to develop the process in 3 to 6 months. Our researchers are world-class in reverse engineering,” Director IICT Dr S Chandrasekhar on Friday said.

He said India is a leader in Chemistry and IICT researchers would be able to develop a generic version of an existing drug within months.

In case the pharmaceutical companies refuse to sell or share the drug technology in India, Parliament has the right to invoke ‘compulsory licensing’ clause, which will allow high-end laboratories like IICT to reverse engineer the drug and transfer the generic version to Indian drug manufacturers.

Whenever there is a threat to life in a population, Parliament has the right to dishonour global WTO agreements because a life-saving drug can potentially save a large number of lives. Under such circumstances, the country need not honour existing patent laws, Dr Chandrasekhar added.

New molecule offers hope for lung ailment

Hyderabad: Researchers at Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) have discovered molecules with a potential application in treatment of pulmonary lung fibrosis, a chronic lung ailment in which lung tissues get damaged and scarred.

The institute is in talks with a few pharmaceutical companies to hammer out collaborations for drug development for the treatment of chronic lung disease.

“A couple of days ago, we met a large pharmaceutical company in Mumbai regarding this. We will go into IND filing in the next one year so that clinical trials can be started at the earliest,” said Director, IICT, S. Chandrasekhar on the occasion of World Science Day on Friday.

The application for Investigational New Drug (IND) is first filed with the US FDA (Federal Drug Administration) for approval so that the pharmaceutical company can start clinical trials on humans and eventually launch the drug.

The IICT researchers are also developing a Neem-based product in collaboration with Mayo Clinic to develop a drug for renal carcinoma i.e. cancer of the kidneys. “We have already licensed the molecule to a Singapore-based organisation who are getting pretty good clinical data,” he said.

The IICT Director pointed out that under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), by 2021 at least five molecules for the treatment of ailments must be developed. The institute is in the process of developing at least two major molecules with the potential to be developed into drugs.

Last year, IICT had entered into a mega global licensing deal worth Rs.240 crore with Sun Pharma over compounds that can be developed into drugs for dermatology, oncology and ophthalmology.

COVID-19 casts shadow over India’s fertilizer industry

Hyderabad: The ongoing crisis in China due to outbreak of COVID-19 has continued to cast its long shadow across various sectors in India. One such sector is the agro-chemical industry that literally forms the backbone of the agriculture sector, as it is involved in manufacture of fertilisers.

“My concern is agro-chemical industry because it is involved in manufacturing of pesticides, which need raw materials that are imported from China. That could be a challenge in the long-run,” said Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, P. Raghavendra Rao.

Like pharmaceutical industry, which needs Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) the agro-chemical industry also depends on raw materials from China, which are known as technicals.

The imported technicals or Active Ingredients (AI) from China are then added to certain chemicals and that is called the formulation, which is used on crops as pesticides. “Our dependency for technicals on China is pretty high. Not as high as pharmaceutical industry but still there is a huge dependency on China for the supply of technicals. The only saving grace is that this is not the season for cultivation,” Rao said.

“Fortunately, whatever stocks of pesticides we have built-up earlier in the country, we are keeping them as our inventory. Our only hope is that the impact of COVID 19 gradually reduces in about a month,” he said.

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