Experts suggest policy changes to boost coronavirus research & development

Funding Covid-related research now included in CSR spends

Calls for development of a research ecosystem have been getting louder, as a conseq­uence of the pandemic.

An expert group — comprising industry doyens, senior government officials, and academia — has submitted a detailed report to the government explaining the policy changes required to boost research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical space. The government had, on Tuesday, said it was temporarily allowing investments in R&D for Covid-19 drugs and vaccines as fulfilment of a company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations.

Pharma industry insiders, however, have pointed out that by limiting such collaborations to only public institutions, the Centre has limited its scope.

“All leading research-driven pharma firms spend a considerable sum on R&D anyway. It is usually 8-10 per cent of their revenues. Including Covid-related R&D in CSR obligations may have good intention, but limited scope,” said a senior executive of a pharma firm.

Some companies have already outlined plans to direct CSR funds towards Covid therapies. Ahmedabad-based Intas Pharmaceuticals is forging alliances with medical and research institutions, and blood donation groups to collect plasma from recovered patients. 
 

It is working on a ‘hyperimmune globulin’, which is derived from conval­escent plasma. This will be a CSR initiat­ive for Intas, along with Indian blood banks that will help procure plasma. 

The expert group on R&D cited above was formed by the government to yield suggestions from the industry and acade­mia for boosting the R&D ecosystem.

It comprised members from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Pharmaceuticals, and industry veterans such as Secretary-General of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) Sudarshan Jain, Dr Reddy’s Chairman Satish Reddy, Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Cadila Healthcare Chairman Pankaj Patel. In the report, the group has recommended that besides financial access (through venture funds) and industry-academia partnerships, a re-look at the pricing strategy is also needed to ensure sufficient incentives to plough money into the risky business of research.

Academic institutions engaged in frontline Covid-related R&D, such as the IITs, see the move as a shot in the arm to their efforts, given that industry collaboration for Covid research has heighte­ned of late.

IIT-Delhi has seen above 10 Covid projects receive CSR funding from the industry, in the last six months. Anurag Rathore, dean (corporate relations) at IIT-D, says encouraging higher CSR funding would certainly be “helpful in accelerating Covid-related research at the institution”.  As of July, IIT-Madras had received slightly above Rs 4 crore in CSR funds. Mahesh Panchagnula, dean (alumni and corporate relations), says many start-ups at its incubation cell have also received direct support.

One of the more promin­ent incubated firms Modulus Housing (setting up hospital buildings within a week) continue to be engaged in Covid-related infrastructure. “Covid has taken industry-academia collaboration to a greater height. We have collaborated with Sundaram Brakes to develop a low-cost ventilator. We have collaborated with several start-ups to quickly translate Covid solutions to solve field-level problems,” added Panchagnula.

Covid-related R&D work ranges from merely making personal protective equip­ment (PPE) and diagnostics, to developing various types of testing kits and low-cost ventilators.

In fact, according to Parameswar K Iyer, dean (public relations) of branding and ranking at IIT-Guwahati, Covid-relat­ed work has moved beyond R&D and the institute is in advanced levels of product manufacturing. Major research initia­tives of IIT-G, which have already been manuf­actured and marketed, are Covid-detec­tion kits (VTM, RNA extra­ction and RT-PCR), vaccines, UV saniti­zers, anti-viral sprays, intubation box, medical devices related to Covid, hands-free software for seamless travel, and safety kits.