“Biotech will get woven into more diverse science education programmes”

Aiming to make India a global knowledge superpower, the government has recently announced the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Being the first education policy of the 21st century, it is set to address the many growing developmental imperatives of our country. And out of these many imperatives, bridging the skill gaps in the biotechnology industry is one of them. To explore how NEP 2020 can benefit the biotechnology/life sciences (BT/LS) education in India, BioSpectrum interacted with Dr Ramgopal Rao S, Academic Manager, Biocon Academy, Bengaluru. Edited excerpts;

Reviving trends for healthcare economy

While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the larger economy, the healthcare sector is no exception. With healthcare sector experiencing operating loss to the tune of Rs 14,000 to 24,000 crore for the first quarter with private sector reporting a 90 per cent drop in revenue, it has been a roller-coaster of a ride so far.

SCHOTT AG delivers vials to package 2 Bn doses of COVID-19 vaccines

German glass manufacturing giant SCHOTT AG is supporting the world’s fight against COVID-19 with vials capable of holding up to 2 billion vaccination doses.

Mylan receives DCGI approval for TB drug pretomanid

Mylan, a global pharmaceutical company, recently announced that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the anti-tuberculosis drug pretomanid for conditional access under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP), making India the second country in the world to provide regulatory approval for this product.

INDIA INCHING TO BE GLOBAL PPE HUB

According to a report by Invest India, the domestic PPE industry grew 56 times in a span of 60 days. On March 1, two days before the World Health Organization (WHO) spoke of a global shortage of PPE, India had no PPE coveralls suitable for COVID-19. But a clear roadmap and prompt assistance by the Ministry of Textiles and all its allied bodies, ensured India becomes a world leader in PPE manufacturing amid a global shortage.

Gennova develops mRNA vaccine against COVID-19

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has facilitated the establishment of the first-of-its-kind mRNA based vaccine manufacturing platform in India.

Abbott joins hands with 1mg for CGM solutions

In a move to expand access and empower Indian patients to take charge of their health, American multinational medical devices and healthcare company Abbott and Gurugram based online pharmacy and healthcare startup 1mg have recently announced their collaboration to make Abbott’s continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) products available online, including its professional flash glucose monitoring system, FreeStyle Libre Pro.

A case of lost credibility?

The revelation was not merely shocking but was hitting the core of confidence built up among the professionals over the years by ‘The Lancet’ and the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’. The editors of the two prestigious medical journals appeared to have expressed their exasperation over the pressure put by pharma companies. They seemed to have used the word ‘criminal’ to describe the erosion of science in the process.

Covid-19 Unlocking India's Capacity In Life Sciences

Today, for India, the COVID-19 pandemic is a strong catalyst to re-inforce the Make in India initiative to facilitate investment, promote innovation, enhance skill development, protect intellectual property and build best in class manufacturing infrastructure in the life sciences sector. For fostering an innovation ecosystem or hub within India, interventions across three dimensions will be required which includes encouraging industry-academia collaboration; increasing R&D investment; and reinvigorating government support.

COVID-19 Likely To Linger On Till 2021?

Easy mode of transmission, nature of the virus, population density, environmental condition, social culture are the major contributors to the rapid spreading of COVID-19 across the globe. But in order to break the chain of transmission, one needs to understand the transmission dynamics of this ongoing pandemic, which is somehow unclear.

ICMR vaccine timeline - An unrealistic approach?

A letter written by the ICMR Director General Prof Balram Bhargava to the heads of 12 selected institutions for fast-track clinical trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, COVAXIN and launching it by August 15 has stirred waves of uncertainty across the country.

“Our technology can reduce SARSCoV-2 particles by more than 99.9%”

With the development of a medication to combat the novel coronavirus still in the works, it has become imperative to find an immediate solution for this global pandemic.

Building healthcare ecosystem around a digital nervous system

In 2003, when SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was first reported, the origins of the virus were a mystery. Scientists suspected it may have come from bats, but it wasn’t until 2012 when the second major coronavirus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – MERS) outbreak was spreading across borders, that researchers confirmed its provenance. At the time of their discovery, they warned us of the outbreak potential of coronaviruses, urging the global community to learn from our past to help us prepare.

Repurposing Hepatitis Drugs For Covid-19 Treatment

While researchers are still finding novel ways to cure hepatitis, the virus has shown them a new direction. HCV shares similarity with the currently prevalent SARS-CoV-2 by having a single-stranded RNA, while HBV has a double-stranded DNA as its genetic material. As a result, repurposing of existing therapies has emerged as a major area of drug development for COVID-19 and selected hepatitis drugs among others are being studied for repositioning to manage the pandemic.

30 COVID-19 Vaccine Projects Afoot In India

When it comes to India that produces 60 per cent of the world’s vaccines and accounts for 60-80 per cent of the United Nations’ annual vaccine procurement, development of a new vaccine is a major task. But what works in India’s favour in the race for a vaccine is that a number of Indian firms are key players in the global vaccine industry. So, along with employing different technology platforms for vaccine development, India has adopted a cross-functional collaborative approach, globally and locally, wherein currently 30 vaccine projects are afoot against COVID-19.

“India should focus on healthcare innovation and access post-COVID-19”

As economies around the world are suffering from the impact of COVID-19, businesses are experiencing losses, workers are without jobs, and many face the challenge of a complete upheaval of lifestyle.

Vera Smart Healthcare amplifies COVID-19 surveillance

Hyderabad based startup Vera Smart Healthcare has launched Traveller Tracking System (TTS) to screen railways, bus stations, Hyderabad airport and will soon cover all district borders of entry to Telangana, to track plus monitor coronavirus contacts.

The Lancet HCQ study report: A knee-jerker during pandemic?

Praised as a potential miracle cure, hundreds of trials got initiated across the globe for HCQ. Scientists started trying the drugs in low and high doses; alone or combined with other drugs in patients with mild or severe disease. But this hope recently got struck by a big blow when a study came along claiming that these antimalarial drugs not only look ineffective but are downright deadly.

Rise of 3D printing to combat COVID-19

India is still in the early stages of 3D printing deployment and in the post-COVID-19 world, 3D printing and perhaps 3D bioprinting will play a major role in advancing and improving healthcare in India.

Time to end distancing of traditional and modern medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a toll on the entire country. As the number of cases is ever increasing, the flattened curve feels like a distant dream. The hospitals, emergency professionals and healthcare services have been burdened and have exhausted their services. Many patients have been left absolutely helpless as we hear stories of lack of proper infrastructure and management to cater to the needs of such a huge population. Is there a better way to manage this crisis? Is there a solution in our own backyard that we are ignoring?

Applications of controlled freeze-thaw system in the production of modern biologicals

Vikrant is M.Tech in Bioprocess Technology with an accomplished 10+ years of experience in bioprocess Industry with a major focus on technology transfer, scale-up & validation of vaccines and biosimilars molecules. He has expertise in validation, downstream processing unit operation viz. chromatography, filtration-Depth, TFF & Nano-filtration. He has also been engaged in designing and successful qualification of BSL 2 manufacturing facility.

Reshaping health behaviours

In the past three months, healthcare practices have advanced by several years. The year 2020 will be remembered as the year that reshaped health behaviours through accelerated use of digital technologies.

Is India self-reliant to manufacture APIs locally?

The KSM is manufactured only by China. So Indian pharma needs to find a way of manufacturing KSM through alternative routes

Thermo Fisher Brings SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing Program

To accelerate national, multi-institutional efforts focused on mapping coronavirus transmission and epidemiological studies, Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the SARS-CoV-2 Global Access Sequencing Program for research consortia and industry groups battling the spread of the pandemic globally.

Is PPE Shortage Driving Adoption Of Robots For Assistance?

Anticipating the threat on healthcare workers in contracting corona infection, hospitals in India have started turning to robots for COVID-19 management. Robots help lessen exposure of healthcare workers to the virus thereby reducing danger of infection. They not only help in contactless screening but are also capable of other operations.

Traditional Medicines & Covid-19

Allopathic drugs are already being tried to treat COVID-19 but even with promising results these drugs always comes with some side-effects unlike in case of traditional system of medicines.

Covid-19 Testing Continues To Be A Pressing Issue

One of the key constraints for Indian researchers and manufacturers to develop quickly testing kits in the country is dependency for raw materials such as enzymes, antigens, antibodies etc., required for research and manufacturing. All this is leading to delays in development of high quality and affordable testing solutions. Government should provide necessary support to develop the “ancillary” support for the researchers and manufacturers so that India can become self-reliant.

Roche Diagnostics India unveils Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay

Roche Diagnostics India has announced that it is bringing their serology-based SARSCoV-2 test - Elecsys AntiSARS-CoV-2 – having received the Import License issued by the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), due to the emergency health situation in public interest.

“Our efforts are focused on offering a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine”

Zydus Cadila, an innovation-driven, global pharmaceutical company, has recently received the approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for use of Saroglitazar in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus as an add on therapy with Metformin. The drug was previously approved in the year 2013 for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and diabetic dyslipidemia in India. More than 1 million patients are being treated with Lipaglyn. BioSpectrum has spoken to Dr Sharvil Patel, Managing Director of Zydus Cadila about the future plans for the product and about the accelerated research programme launched for the development of the vaccine against coronavirus.

IF WISHES WERE VACCINES…

The long road till commercial availability compelling sustained funding at unprecedented levels. Combined with the $ 2 billion outlay expected from GAVI / CEPI and various government institutions and alliances across the globe, the total economic interest invested in this research would be at a never-before-seen or imagined level.