Policy needs multi-disciplinary research and end users should be included in guidelines development: Prof. K. Srinath Reddy at CSIR-CDRI

New Delhi: CSIR-CDRI is celebrating CSIR-One Week One Lab program on fifth day of celebration Institute celebrated its 72nd Annual Day today on 17th February 2023. On this occasion, the prestigious 48th Sir Edward Mellanby Memorial Oration was delivered by Padma Bhushan Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, honorary distinguished professor and former president of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).

Prof Reddy talked about public health and policy. He emphasized that policy needs multi-disciplinary research and end users should be included in guidelines development. He further mentioned, multi-disciplinary collaborations are now essential in health research. Clinical trial designs too are getting altered in response the changing needs. Science generate ideas and births innovations. Technology yields products. The enterprise of drug research embraces science and extends it energetically into medical technologies that impact human health in the form of medicines. To be social values, these have to not only tested for impact on health risks and diseases states but also be easily available and all who need it. Proprietary science is increasingly becoming a barrier to the application of needed technologies for common good. The scientific community has to devise methods by which innovation is rewarded while giving primacy to societal needs.

Dr. Radha Rangarajan, Director CSIR-CDRI, welcomed all the dignitaries and briefed the achievements of the Institute in past one year.

CSIR-CDRI has a very rich pipeline of drugs for different disease indications of national and international importance: Dr. Radha Rangarajan

Institute has a very rich pipeline of drugs for different disease indications of national and international importance, Dr. Radha Rangarajan, Director CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow said while briefing the achievements of the Institute in past one year on the occasion. She further mentioned, five candidate drugs are in clinical trials e.g., for COVID-19, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), drug resistant tuberculosis, thrombosis and fracture healing.  Three of them are already licensed to the industry partners. Two of the candidate drugs are being developed with budgetary support from Indian Council of Medical Research.

Similarly, another group of small molecule lead compounds is in advanced stages of the IND enabling studies; for Malaria, Leishmaniasis, chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, colon cancer and hyperlipidemia. In the area of Phytopharmaceuticals (drugs derived from medicinal plant extracts), the institute is developing several leads for stroke, bone health, hypertriglyceridemia, and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH).

The institute recently launched Indigenous DNA Staining Dye “GreenR”, a product jointly developed by CSIR-CDRI and Biotech Desk Pvt. Ltd. And one of its product, “Standardized nano-formulation from Spinacia oleracea for Osteoarthritis” received STEM Technology Transfer Impact Award-2022, recently.

A silent pandemic of antibiotic resistant bacteria causing huge mortality, morbidity and loss of productivity: Dr. Habil Khorakiwala

Later in the program, Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, founder & chairman of Indian multinational pharmaceutical company Wokhardt delivered Annual Day oration as the chief guest of the event. He emphasized that antibiotic resistance is a global threat and mentioned that in 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic we faced about 6.7 million deaths due to it but in every single year about 4.9 million deaths occurs due to antibiotic -resistant bugs. Antibiotics are center piece of modern medicine. Under his leadership Wokhardt developed multidisciplinary drug discovery team. His company discovered novel antibiotics which have saved the lives of patients infected with drug-resistant superbugs, one of the patients cured from the death-stage by the antibiotic who was treated in Medanta hospital, Lucknow. He also suggested the need for a simplified regulatory process in India with science-based smart regulation process.

Institute also felicitated CDRI team members who successfully completed 25 years of dedicated service in this laboratory and retirees from last year.

The program was concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Sabyasachi Sanyal, Chairman of organizing committee.