Grant for R&D of drugs for tropical diseases

"The approval is for R&D projects involving clinical trials (phase I, II and III) to develop new drugs for neglected diseases of tropical regions," Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office Prithvi Raj Chavan told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.     

He said an amount of Rs 45 crore has been earmarked during the 11th five year plan to help the pharma industry and the amount could be increased as the programme develops.     

"It would help in developing new drugs for the neglected diseases such a tuberculosis, malaria, kala-azar, filariasis, which are still a big threat in the Indian sub-continent," Chauhan said.      

The R&D programme is being conducted under the Drugs and Pharmaceutical Research Programme of Department of Science and Technology, he added.      

The department has been implementing the Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Research Programme (DPRP) since 1994-95 as a plan programme to support the pharma industry, institutional collaborative R&D projects and infrastructure.      

In 2004-05, the programme started extending soft loans to pharma industry to the tune of 70 per cent of the total cost at an interest rate of 3 per cent with a 10 year repayment period beginning from the end of the project duration.