CSIR-NCL to Soon Submit R&D of Making Raw Material for Drugs

Pune: The CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory will help in making raw material (Key Starting Material) to make active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make many bulk drugs in the time of Covid-19.

The Indian pharmaceutical industry is the third-largest by volume, but is critically dependent on imports of raw material. The dependency, in some cases, extent to over 80%, particularly from China.

A senior researcher at National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) said, “If the lockdown continues for a longer duration, there may be a time in future when the pharmaceutical companies may face a shortage of raw material to make drugs. India has one of the largest number of Food and Drug Administration-approved manufacturing sites, outside the US. We supply the final drugs to a lot of countries, including China. But we need self-sufficiency. We at NCL will make the technology that helps create the Key Starting Material.”
CSIR-NCL director Ashwini Kumar Nangia said, “We are hopeful that the CSIR-NCL will be able to soon release the research and development (R&D) reports to the government and chemical and pharmaceutical industry bodies. Each laboratory-scale process will be ready in the next few weeks and months to be taken up for manufacturing by the Indian drug companies. The capability and infrastructure for further synthesis of the final active pharmaceutical ingredients from the intermediate Key Starting Material largely exist in the country.”
Another NCL researcher said, “Projects are already on for manufacturing 3-4 Key Starting Material. For another 4-5 Key Starting Material, the process to manufacture it is already designed. This has been done keeping in mind the cost, safety and other parameters.”

Source:ToI

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