CSIR-IMTECH organizes LASAICON 2025 Conference on preclinical research, animal welfare, drug discovery & pharma innovation

New Delhi: CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) recently hosted a three Laboratory Animal Science Association Conference (LASAICON)-2025, on “Preclinical to Clinical: Connecting the Dots of Research, Animal Welfare, Drug Discovery, and Pharma Innovation for Viksit Bharat”.

The landmark event shall bring together an interdisciplinary community of scientists, regulators, animal welfare experts, innovators, students and key stakeholders from academia and industry.

Dr. Sanjeev Balyan, Former MoS for Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying; Agriculture; Jal Shakti, Government of India (GOI ) was the Chief Guest of the event. Dr Balyan a veterinary scientist himself, lauded the efforts of CSIR-IMTECH in organizing LASAICON, which shall pave the way for self-reliant India. He exhorted the scientists to undertake the areas of research that is beneficial to common man and especially agriculture. LASAICON-2025 aim to address critical scientific and ethical intersections—promoting humane, responsible, and cutting-edge approaches in biomedical research, accelerating drug discovery, and nurturing pharmaceutical innovation through informed scientific discourse and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Dr Sanjeev Khosla, Director, CSIR-IMTECH while welcoming the dignitaries and scientists at the event highlighted that there is a pressing need to develop a robust mechanism for the welfare of lab animals as most of the failures in any drug discovery program occur at the pre-clinical stage. He also dwelled on newer methods that have the potential to replace animal models like organoids due to their human-specific, 3D structure that better mimics human organs for disease modeling, drug screening, and toxicity testing.

Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Dr Sanjeev Balyan & Dr. Subeer Majumdar, Director General of Gujarat Biotechnology University (GBU) for their exceptional contribution in the field of veterinary sciences. LASAI Awards were also given under different categories to eminent researchers for their work in animal studies and handling OF laboratory animals.

Prof. JPS Gill, VC, GADVASU, Ludhiana, Dr. Subeer Majumdar, DG, GBU, Gujarat and Dr. G. Rajamohan, Chief Scientist & Chairperson, LASAICON-2025 in their respective addressesgave a brief overview of the event that shall enable impactful dialogue and collaboration that bridges ethical preclinical research with transformative clinical and pharmaceutical advancements. They acknowledged IMTECH’s world class infrastructure and scientists that have played the role of an enabler to budding young researchers across the country.

Over the next two days, the scientific program will explore key themes including animal welfare, ethics & alternatives, translational research & preclinical models, drug discovery & pharma innovation, digital disruption through AI and regulatory frameworks and quality standards. A souvenir commemorating the celebration of LASAICON 2025 featuring scientific articles and messages was also unveiled during the event. Dr Neeraj Khatri, Chief Scientist and Organizing Secretary of LASAICON 2025 laid the platform for the event that aims to foster scientific interaction and innovation in the field of laboratory animal science, biomedical research, animal welfare, and preclinical drug development.

CSIR-IMTECH is a national center for excellence in microbial sciences and was established in 1984. IMTECH’s vision and mission are to create translational ecosystem strengthened by fundamental discoveries and to address unmet healthcare and industrial needs with state-of-the-art processes and platforms respectively.