Neglected infectious diseases may be tomorrow's pandemic: Bharat Biotech chairman
Chandigarh, Jan 24: Bharat Biotech International Limited Chairman Dr Krishna Ella on Monday said today's neglected infectious diseases could be tomorrow's global pandemic and stressed the need to have a coherent strategy to fight them.
He
said
this
during
an
event
organised
as
part
of
the
38
foundation
day
celebrations
by
CSIR-Institute
of
Microbial
Technology
(IMTECH),
Chandigarh.
Bharat
Biotech's
Covaxin
is
credited
to
be
India's
first
indigenous
COVID-19
vaccine
to
be
approved
and
administered
to
a
sizeable
population
across
the
globe.
Delivering
this
year's
foundation
day
lecture
virtually
on
"Innovation
and
Leadership
in
Pandemic",
Ella
highlighted
how
today's
neglected
infectious
diseases
could
be
tomorrow's
global
pandemic
and
stressed
the
need
to
have
a
coherent
strategy
to
fight
infectious
diseases,
according
to
an
CSIR-IMTECH
statement.
During
his
lecture,
Dr
Ella
highlighted
how
innovative
technology
in
vaccine
development
is
essential
to
solve
public
healthcare
problems
caused
by
infectious
diseases.
He said Indian pharmaceutical companies need to innovate beyond generic vaccines to be a global player in the vaccine market. He stressed the need for scientists to examine the unknowns that could be the future cause of pandemic through zoonotic and unknown viruses. A serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovative ideas, Bharat Biotech has also ventured into veterinary vaccines, food processing, and developing biotechnology infrastructure in the country. Dr Ella is also involved in shaping India's science education and policy through his association with several committees, said the statement.
Dr Shekhar C Mande, Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research & Director General CSIR, asked scientists to focus on microbiome therapies, which could be future game changer for treating diseases. Dr Sanjeev Khosla, Director, CSIR-IMTECH, lauded efforts of scientists and researchers for the work carried out to fight the pandemic during the challenging times of COVID-19.
The CSIR-IMTECH is a national centre for excellence in microbial sciences and was established in 1984.
PTI