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  India   Government nod to breeding facility for research

Government nod to breeding facility for research

AGE CORRESPONDENT
Published : Nov 19, 2015, 12:16 am IST
Updated : Nov 19, 2015, 12:16 am IST

In what could be a major boost to the Pharma industry, scientists and medical universities, the government on Wednesday approved setting up of a first of its kind National Resource Facility for Bio-me

In what could be a major boost to the Pharma industry, scientists and medical universities, the government on Wednesday approved setting up of a first of its kind National Resource Facility for Bio-medical Research for breeding animals required for research and development of various products.

A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, endorsed the proposal mooted by department of health research under the Union health ministry. The proposed facility will have animals of defined quality that will help obtain reliable results for vaccine development. “Once fully operational, the facility is expected to reduce the cost of research and development in biotech and pharma sector by about 60 per cent, which is expected to reduce the cost of indigenous medicines and vaccines by about 30 per cent in the long run,” said Mr Manoj pant, joint secretary in the DHR.

According to experts, the new facility will pave way for development of more efficient prophylactic vaccines and curative drugs for diseases like AIDS, Malaria, Hepatitis-C etc.

At present there is no such facility in the country, forcing pharma giants to conduct research in other countries, which is very expensive. The new breeding facility, to be set up in AP with the total cost of `338.58 crores, is expected to have primates, beagle dogs and other large animals which are not available in India. Some pathogen-free animals like, mice, rat, hamsters, gerbils, rabbit, guinea pig, mini pig, canine, swine, equine, sheet, among others will be available.

Location: India, Delhi, New Delhi