Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – B-20 and Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), in partnership with the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), organized a Webinar on ‘Collaborative Research on Therapeutics’ today with participation from eminent speakers from the industry, academia and government. The webinar focused on deliberating a need for collaborative models that would help to strengthen and support research and development in therapeutics.

Indian pharmaceutical industry is a significant player in the global pharmaceutical landscape, ranking third worldwide for production by volume. Indian pharma companies have gained a reputation for their price competitiveness and high quality, which has enabled them to make a mark on the global stage.

The 21st century has been marked by multiple outbreaks of epidemics and pandemics, causing disruptions to social and economic systems worldwide. These disease outbreaks have highlighted the fragility of global supply chains and the challenges of ensuring equitable access, availability, and affordability of quality Medical Countermeasures (Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics or VTDs) across the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The inequity in access to these resources has also underscored the need for effective collaboration among all stakeholders conducting research in VTDs.

Sh. Rajneesh Tingal, Joint Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, in his opening remarks highlighted various initiatives taken by DoP to foster innovation in India and the need of strengthening research collaboration in therapeutics. This was followed by a detailed presentation by Dr Pramod Garg, Executive Director, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Department of Biotechnology, who shared insightful details on advantages of research networks with complementary skills offered by both Industry & academia leading to end to end innovations.

Panel discussion included notable speakers from industry, academia, and government, including Dr Shridhar Narayanan (Senior Technical Advisor, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance), Dr Dulal Panda (Director, NIPER Mohali); Dr Rajesh Jain (Chairman, CII National Committee on Biotechnology & Managing Director, Panacea Biotec Limited); Dr George Patani (Director, Inga Laboratories); Dr Mukul Jain (President & Head, Nonclinical Research & Development, Zydus Lifesciences); Dr Sadhna Joglekar (Senior Vice President and Head, Global Drug Development, Hyderabad, Novartis); and Dr Robin Evers, (Senior Vice President, Novo Nordisk), who shared their vision for the collaborative research and learnings that can be taken from successful collaborations.

Some of the key points deliberated by the esteemed speakers included:

1. Creating a collaborative ecosystem for turning discovery into beneficial therapeutics.
2. Development of therapeutics to generate important insights while keeping collaborators engaged and committed to their partnerships.
3. Creating a self-sustaining network of industry-academia and cross-functional industrial collaborations.
4. Workforce development as a key component of a robust discipline of innovative therapeutic development.
5. Collaborative environment for innovation & learning to transform processes, technologies, and policy elements of innovation.

Various specific suggestions for building a collaborative ecosystem of the panel members to translate discoveries into effective therapeutics along with suggestions of the participants received during the feedback session were noted and the same would be utilized for developing a robust pharmaceutical ecosystem.

Webinar concluded with a note of appreciation to all the speakers and participants for their valuable contributions towards the collaborative effort of strengthening R&D in therapeutics.

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