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New Delhi, June 26

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday gave its approval for extending grants-in-aid to pharmaceutical companies for developing new drugs for neglected diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, kala-azar, and filariasis. The proposal was mooted under the Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Research Programme of the Department of Science & Technology. Department of S&T has been implementing the Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Research Programme (DRPR) since 1994-95 as a Plan Programme to support institutional collaborative R&D projects and infrastructure development in the pharmaceutical sector. From 2004-05 onwards this programme has extended soft loans to pharma companies to the tune of 70 per cent of total project cost at a simple annual rate of interest of 3 per cent with 10 years of instalment repayment period beginning from the end of project duration. An amount of Rs 45 crore during the 11th Five-Year Plan has been earmarked under the extended programme. “It would help in developing new drugs for the neglected diseases of tropical region, which are still a big threat in the Indian sub-continent,” said an official statement.

– Our Bureau

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