DRUGS DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO IN INDIA

Geeta Singh, Tulika Mishra

Abstract


Drug discovery and development is the journey of identifying new chemical and biological compounds against any specific diseased condition and
transforming them into commercially available products. The whole process takes almost 8-15 years from conceptualizing the idea to the final
products in the market. There are several steps involved but broadly it can be divided into three major steps which include drug discovery, drug
development, and commercialization. Identification of candidate compounds, their synthesis, screening, and evaluation of safety and efficacy are
some of the major milestones. Once compounds exhibit some efficacy and stability, they are run through various clinical trials to establish their
safety in animals and later in humans. This whole process is lengthy and very expensive. As per the reports, any molecules from the conceptualizing
stage to the commercializing stage take around 1B$. Time is the essence in drug discovery programs therefore many organizations run projects at
various sites in collaboration to expedite the whole process. In India, many government agencies are involved and sponsor new drug discovery
programs. Several private organizations in India also invest millions of dollars to establish the best-class facilities which attract many global clients
in India to run integrated drug discovery (IDD) programme in fast and cost-effective way. Indian governments foster the environment to cultivate
the drug discovery program which not only supports the current GDP but also provides an opportunity to new researchers in India and to start a
career in this field.


Keywords


drug discovery, drug development, India, compounds etc.

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