Experts suggest policy changes to boost coronavirus R&D

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. Ahmedabadbased 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 Secretarygeneral 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 relook 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 IITD, 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 ~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 RTPCR), vaccines, UV sanitizers, anti-viral sprays, intubation box, medical devices related to Covid, hands-free software for seamless travel, and safety kits.