Major pharmaceutical companies are manufacturing medicines in India, but the country should focus on developing technologies to produce new medicines, said a renowned medicinal chemist from the US varsity.
India has high potentials for developing medicines from nature. However advanced and collaborative research is needed to boost the pharmaceutical industry, said Muraleedharan G Nair, Principal Investigator of the Bioactive Natural Products and Phytoceuticals Laboratory in Horticulture Department at Michigan State University, USA.
He was delivering a public lecture on Medicines from Nature to Treat Human Diseases, organised by the Centre for Bioactive Compounds from Marine Organism, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS).
According to him, multidisciplinary collaboration is needed to develop pharmaceuticals from natural products. Native people, farmers, marine biologist, chemists, pharmacologists, clinicians etc have significant roles in the process. About 75 per cent of pharmaceuticals are based on natural components.
Speaking on the occasion, B Madhusoodana Kurup, Vice Chancellor said that KUFOS would develop Mari culture and enhance research activities for developing medicines from marine organism.
The Centre for Bioactive Substances from Marine Organism, the research centre at KUFOS is gearing up to strengthen research activities on biologically active compounds from marine organisms which can be used in drugs, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and other value added products. The research centre has also plans for initiating collaboration with other institutions in India and abroad, he said.
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