Scope for preclinical trials tremendous: Anandkumar

Bangalore, Apr 25 (UNI) India can become a major player in pre-clinical and animal testing trials with encouragement and protection from Central and State Governments, Dr S Anand Kumar, Director of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) has said.

In the latest e-newsletter of ABLE, Dr Anand Kumar, Director of AstraZeneca Research Foundation, India, said ''Animal activism is a problem in Europe and the US, but there are excellent animal care facilities in those countries and there are many toxicology service providers'' adding ''India can become a major player if Indian Government encourages and local security providers protect the establishments''.

He said though there were new tools to eliminate or minimise animal testing ''vital parameters such as cardiovascular functions, renal functions, hepatic functions, neurological responses, cannot be done in organisms other than the currently used animal models''.

Regulators could prescribe humane treatment protocols for animal testing and monitor the adherence to regulations in animal care facilities he added.

New tools such as Drosophila, C.elegans, fishes, and other organisms were being used in some studies. ''But they were not substitutes for some large animal testing before the drug could be used in human studies'.

Dr Anand Kumar said India had tremendous potential in preclinical trials. ''There is a scope for entrepreneurs to invest in new establishments and offer services in this area which is critical for bringing new and novel drugs to the market place'' he said adding India had expertise in animal sciences.

Stating that there was a large pool of trained scientific personnel in preclinical research he said there were many well-known institutions such as UDCT in Mumbai, Bombay Pharmacy college and many other Pharmacy Colleges in the country including the Governmant College of Pharmacy in Bangalore, Indian Toxicological Research Institute in Lucknow, CDRI in Lucknow, NIPER in Chandigarh, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh and AIIMS in Delhi training people in Drug Metabolism, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Acute and Chronic Toxicology.

Veterinary colleges provide animal pathologists who were required in preclinical animal studies.

The country had a few companies carrying out preclinical testing there was room for many more, yet preclinical testing, especially acute and chronic toxicology was expensive and India could provide a competent service at an attractive price.

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