India expected to amend patent act soon: AstraZeneca

Bangalore, Mar 21 (UNI) India is expected to put on the fast track, the process of amending laws to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), leading pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Chief Executive Officer David Brennan said today.

Speaking to newspersons here after dedicating its first Process Research and Development facility outside Europe with an investment of 15 million dollars, he exuded confidence that India would move ahead with its initiative of bringing changes in the Patent Act.

Mr Brennan said the state-of-the-art facility housed both the Avishkar Discovery Research Centre of Excellence and the P R and D Centre. While the P R and D Centre focussed on developing a cure for the deadly Tuberculosis that haunted over one third of the world population, especially in the developing economies, the Centre of Excellence was a dedicated research facility for the discovery of novel therapies for developing new infectious diseases worldwide.

''The P R and D Centre has been given a mandate to develop a new drug for TB, which will be more potent, have less side effects and provide quick cure. The P R and D scientists will design the route and processes that enable the manufacture of the 'active ingredient' in bulk. The new drug is expected to roll out by 2009,'' he said adding that India had the largest number of TB cases in the world, with over 16 million people suffering from the disease.

Mr Brennan said the P R and D facility accommodated over 75 highly qualified scientists, supported by requisite housekeeping and engineering staff. The scientists would work with compounds created by medicinal chemists to ensure that they were safe and efficient for the more material stages of drug development - toxicological studies and clinical trials.

Around 90 scientists recruited from leading research institutions and universities, would work at the centre of excellence in close collaboration with the company's infection research centre in Boston and external academicians in the field.

UNI