The Hindu Business Line : Rs 150-crore pharma fund fails to impress industry

And while the Department of Science and Technology (DST) feels that it is better late than never, the domestic pharma industry does not seem to be cheering the late-starter.

DST officials told Business Line that the initial corpus of Rs 150 crore could be tapped by both institutions and pharma industry for research purposes. "Pending the evaluation of individual or joint-projects, the funds would be given as a grant to institutions, or a loan to companies, at an interest of three per cent. Further, to avail themselves of the funds, companies would have to meet a set of requirements such as, researching on diseases relevant to India or having the infrastructure and capabilities to execute the project," the official said. Also, only 50 per cent of the project cost would be given and the rest would have to be put by the company.

Only late last week the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the fund and constitution of Drug Development Promotion Board (DDPB).

But what seems to have upset the domestic drug industry is that only interest on the fund, or about Rs 9 crore, will be actually available to the industry. "The promise of Budget 2000-01, where Rs 150 crore was to be augmented to Rs 750 crore over a five-year period, seems to be forgotten. At Rs 9 crore, it will not make a material difference to our efforts," lamented industry representatives.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mr D.G. Shah, Secretary General, Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, said: "the Government has failed to appreciate the need and urgency of the local industry to emerge as a knowledge power." According to him, the Government could stand guarantor and leverage the fund to raise capital for research done by companies.

DST officials, however, are not perturbed and feel it is important to get the fund operational without further delay.

According to the DST official, companies have already started sending in proposals. "The proposals would be evaluated by an expert panel, chaired by a nominee of the Secretary, Science and Technology (S&T).

``Subsequently, the proposal and the funds allocated for the project would have to be cleared by the DDPB, an apex body under the chairmanship of the S&T Secretary," the representative said.

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