The Department of Pharmaceuticals has announced the Scheme for Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech Sector (PRIP). The scheme would have a financial outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, over a period of 5 years from financial year 2023-24 to 2027-28.

The objective of the scheme is to transform Indian Pharma MedTech sector from cost based to innovation-based growth by strengthening the research infrastructure in the country.

As part of the scheme, it has been proposed to establish Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in the seven existing National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPERs) at Mohali, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kolkata, Hajipur and Raebareli at a tentative cost of Rs 700 crore over a period of five years in following specialisations:

i. NIPER Mohali- Anti-Viral and Anti- Bacterial Drug Discovery and Development

ii. NIPER Ahmedabad- Medical Devices

iii. NIPER Hyderabad- Bulk Drugs

iv. NIPER Kolkata- Flow Chemistry and Continuous Manufacturing

v. NIPER Raebareli- Novel Drug Delivery System

vi. NIPER Guwahati- Phyto-pharmaceuticals

vii. NIPER Hajipur- Biological Therapeutics

This will help in building specific research capacities in the identified priority areas in a focused time bound programme, tapping industry-academia linkage.

Further, the scheme shall cover pharmaceutical research under six priority areas- New Chemical Entity (NCE), New Biological Entity (NBE), Phyto-pharmaceuticals (natural product); Complex generics; Biosimilars; Medical devices; Orphan drugs; and Drug development for anti-microbial resistance (AMR).