Nicholas Piramal, Indian Institute of Science to develop anti-fungal drugs

Mumbai: Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL), the second largest pharmaceutical company in the country, has entered into a 'research collaboration' with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc), to identify potential new targets for developing drugs to treat fungal infections. Furthering its strong position in R&D, NPIL has appointed Dr Maneesh Nerurkar. Dr Nerurkar holds a PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry and will be in charge of the formulations group, including the new drug delivery systems (NDDS) division.

Dr. Swati Piramal, director, strategic alliances and communication, said, "We aim to be an integrated pharmaceutical company with a commitment to discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of indigenous pharmaceutical products. With this target in mind, the company places a premium on promoting new concepts and individual inspiration from all sources — external and internal".

Dr. Parag Sadhale, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc, will spearhead the collaborative effort. Dr. Sadhale has already discovered novel genes, which are expressed only in agents that cause fungal infection. These genes are likely to provide new drug targets for developing anti-fungal molecules.

Nicholas Piramal will have exclusive rights to commercialise any products coming out of this collaboration. NPIL already has a vast collection of natural products (over 6,000 plant extracts and 18. 000 microbial strains), which will also be evaluated during this period.