R&D funding through BIRAC declines in three years

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The amount released by the Central government towards drug development and research and development (R&D) through the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has come down by almost 50 per cent in the last two fiscal years. The disbursement declined drastically in 2020-21, during when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and the government allocated more funds for vaccines and drugs to fight the pandemic, as compared to the year 2019-20.

According to the data available from the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers, the BIRAC, the public sector undertaking of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), has disbursed Rs. 4.19 crore in the year 2021-22, as compared to Rs. 4.98 crore in 2020-21 and Rs. 8.26 crore in 2019-20. The total disbursement during these three years was around Rs. 17.43 crore.

DBT, through BIRAC facilitates implementation of R&D projects for drug discovery in the areas of tuberculosis (TB), antimicrobial resistance (AMR), diabetes, cancer, wound management, autoimmune disorders and rare diseases, through the regular schemes.

Apart from the funding through BIRAC, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) through its various constituent laboratories is engaged in the research and development of the process technologies for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and intermediates. CSIR has approved various significant projects, including projects on basic research, in the area of drug discovery and development worth about Rs. 284.88 crore for the period 2020-21 to 2025-26.

Besides, the R&D investment by pharma public sector undertakings Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL), and Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd (HAL) has also declined considerably from Rs. 1.25 crore in 2019-20 to Rs. 41.24 lakh in 2021-22 and from Rs. 1.28 crore in 2019-20 to Rs. 92.66 lakh in 2021-22, respectively, said a data released by Bhagwant Khuba, minister of state in the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers in the Lok Sabha recently.

Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL), another PSU under the Ministry, has invested Rs. 11 lakh, Rs. 15 lakh and Rs. 16 lakh in the years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively. These PSUs are identified by the government for closure or strategic sale.

The Minister said in the Lok Sabha that the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) 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, which besides imparting postgraduate and doctorate education, conduct high end research in various pharma specialisations.

“DoP has also set up an Inter- Departmental Committee (IDC) to periodically review and coordinate research work undertaken by various organisations under different Ministries/ Departments so as to ensure optimum utilisation of funds and avoid overlapping and duplication of efforts and resources,” he added.

NIPERs are actively and dedicatedly engaged in cutting-edge advanced translational pharmaceutical research in various pharma specialisations. The areas of research include cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, TB, phytopharmaceuticals, new process development of generic API molecules, drug delivery system, development of nano-drug formulations etc. added the Minister.

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This entry was posted in Clinical Trial.

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