Pharma industry needs to invest ‘smartly’ in Research and Development: Expert

Patiala, February 26

An international seminar-cum-workshop on ‘New paradigms in drug discovery and delivery research’ was organised by the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, Punjabi University, today. The event is sponsored by the UGC-SAP (DRS-II) programme.

Dr GS Batra, Dean, Academic Affairs, said: “There is an immediate need for the pharma industry to invest ‘smartly’ in research and development in order to discover new drug molecules.” He said old drugs were fast becoming ineffective due to resistance and new diseases.

Coordinator, UGC-SAP programme, Dr AK Tiwary highlighted the achievements of the department under this scheme sanctioned by the UGC. Dr RN Saha, Director, BITs Dubai, delved upon the importance of considering the pharmacokinetic parameters of a drug molecule during initial stages of drug development in order to design medicines for targeting specific diseases and organs, while Dr Arvind Bansal, Professor, NIPER, Mohali, described the work done for creating a platform technology for producing nano particles with enhanced water solubility. Other attendees discussed technological developments made in his laboratory for preparing easily dissolving films of drugs, the application of Process Analytical Technology (PAT). — TNS