Use open sourcing to discover effective drug for TB: Bhandari

Bangalore, Dec 22 (UNI) Newly appointed CSIR Director General Samir Brahmachari has exhorted the biotech industry to use open sourcing to discover effective drugs for infectious diseases like tuberculosis.

Speaking at the BioSpectrum Awards Nite here last night, he said academia, industry and contract research organisations should come together to use open sourcing to discover drugs that were cheap and could be used to fight the infectious diseases like TB affecting the masses.

"By the time we finish with this function a few thousand poor TB patients would have died due to non availability of effective drug. The industry should do something to bring out the best drug to fight TB using open sourcing," he appealed.

Mr Brahmachari, who recently took over from the legendary Dr R A Mashelkar, said the BT industry should allow the young to do what they want to do and let the things happen. "Demand the best from them (youth), set a high standard and then see how they achieve it," he said.

MORE UNI