National Biopharma Mission - LIS (E)
Accelerating Bio-Discoveries: National Biopharma Mission. Winning the hearts and minds of communities is of utmost importance if drug and vaccine discovery has to rapidly transform into usable products. To accelerate this last mile, India has embarked on a Rs 1500 crore National Biopharma Mission in 2017 to give a boost to drug discovery, and to do clinical trials at select locations in the country. The national mission is a $250 million project, half funded by The World Bank and half by India. About a dozen sites have been identified and one happens to be in Palwal, Haryana. In November 2020, a national level training program took place in Palwal with participants reaching out to the community to learn how to do demographic analysis and how to prepare communities for clinical trials for the Covid-19 vaccines. The Palwal site is already part of the Phase 3 trial of the Russian Sputnik Covid-19 vaccine for which ground is being prepared. Dr Kavita Singh a trained physician has a lot of experience with industry and is leading the five year $250 million mission. India wants to be a $100 billion biotech industry hub and the National Biopharma Mission is a big catalyst.
