The B.V. Patel Pharmaceutical Education & Research Development (PERD) Centre, Ahmedabad is one-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary postgraduate research and service institutions in India, dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the pharmaceutical and allied sciences.
The PERD Centre is a combination of technology, products and services that figures a series of solutions for the pharmaceutical sector. The Government of Gujarat has recognized the important role of PERD Centre in catalyzing the development of pharmaceutical industry in Gujarat. To assist small and medium scale industries for standardization and quality assurance of synthetic as well as herbal drugs, Industries Commissionerate (Government of Gujarat) has funded for establishing a Centre for Excellence (COE) at PERD Centre. The Centre for Excellence focuses on the following three areas:
- Contract research and technology development
- Education (periodic workshops and seminars)
- Research and development of drugs
The PERD Centre recognizes that the work it conducts contributes to the advancement of pharmaceutical industries and healthcare delivery systems and in improving the science of medicine, ultimately contributing to the advancement of health, well-being and quality of life.
One of the major strengths of the PERD Centre is its research wing, focusing on pharmaceuticals as well as basic science. The centre brings together a diverse interdisciplinary team of experts in the basic science, chemistry biotechnology, herbals, pharmacology, statistics, material science and other areas of pharmaceuticals science. Predominantly, research at PERD centre focuses on various aspects of-
- Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry
- Medicinal Chemistry
- Cell & Molecular Biology
- Pharmaceutics
The Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology is extensively involved in conducting sponsored industrial projects as well as research pertaining to toxicology, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics including animal toxicokinetic, animal and human pharmacokinetics.
The centre has a number of pharmacological screening models for various disease conditions viz. Alzheimer’s disease, asthma, cataract, cerebral ischemia, Diabetes (IDDM and NIDDM), glaucoma, hypertension and many more. The centre has carried out phytochemical and pharmacological evaluation of selected herbal drugs of Indian System of Medicine for anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic activity. It is trying to identify the biomarkers for early detection of drug-induced hepatotoxicity, one of the most common side effects of drugs.
The Department of Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry has a well established plant tissue culture facility, wherein, protocols have been designed and developed for tissue culture of medicinal plants viz. Holarrhena antidysenterica, Clerodendrum inerme, Bacopa monnieri, Cassia senna, etc. The protocols have also been established for the production of secondary metabolites and therapeutic proteins in tissue cultures through biosynthesis and bioengineering.
The plant extracts have been screened for radioprotection, neuroregeneration, neuroprotection, anticancer, anti-implantation, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, anti-allergic, antimicrobial, anti-ulcer, hepatoprotective, cytotoxic, wound healing and antioxidant potentials. The department also is actively engaged in synthesis and development of New Chemical Entities (NCEs) of natural scaffolds for generation of bioactive leads against tuberculosis, cancer, diabetes and neuroprotection.
The strategy of RNA interference has been implemented to increase the secondary metabolite production in plant cells. The department is involved in formulating isolated compounds as well as the extracts into pharmaceutical dosage forms viz. tablets, capsules, gels, in-situ gels, hydrogels, phytosomes etc. in order to deliver the drugs to the site of action. PERD centre has identified an herbal compound to treat PKDL as well as malaria.
A major breakthrough at PERD Centre has been the development of a promising anti-cancer molecule; an international patent for which has been filled in collaboration with Louisiana State University, Louisiana, USA. The US patent has been awarded and European patent is on its way. PERD Centre has developed a molecule that gives protection to normal cells during radiation therapy and also sensitizes the cancer cells to radiation. The molecule has been tested for its radio protective effect in the initial studies and more extensive studies are underway.
PERD Centre has developed and established some molecules that decrease the chemo resistance. It has also developed potential adenosine receptor antagonist with implications for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, for which limited drugs are available for treatment. Also the centre is focusing on New Chemical Entity (NCEs) or drugs, for diabetes as one of the therapeutic area. The quality and safety of a drug is generally assured by monitoring it using suitable analytical techniques and controlling the impurities effectively. There is an ever-growing interest of scientific community in impurities present in API’s.
The centre has been carrying out impurity profiling as a part of research activity as well as to cater to industrial requirement. PERD centre has collection of more than 3,000 items Reference Standard consists, ranging from drug substances, related impurities, residual solvents, biologics, excipients, botanicals, polymers, Near-IR and dissolution calibrators, photomicrographs, and melting point standards.
The Cell and Molecular Biology Department is working on different aspects of cell and molecular biology. The major thrust areas include the study of different aspects of cancer biology, elucidation of pharmacogenetic variations particularly in Indian population, development of vaccine against infectious disease and stem cell biology, development of targeted drug delivery using magnetic nanoparticles, role of genetic variations in disease susceptibility, development of vaccines for infectious diarrheal diseases and production of induced pluripotent stem cells by non viral methods.
One of the current focuses of PERD Centre is to develop oral vaccines against diarrhoeal disease. PERD centre is working in vaccine development against infectious disease particularly for diarrheal disease using probiotic bacteria. Also, research is underway to study the pathway for development of drug resistance in cancer. Research is being carried out in the area of Pharmacogenomics and can be classified under two broad categories: Analysis of effect of genetic variations on the activity of drug metabolizing enzymes and Analysis of genetic variations for disease susceptibility.
The centre is also trying to develop a non-viral vector based method for delivering the transcription factors required for reprogramming a cell from the differentiated state to the undifferentiated stem cell. These non-viral vectors are free of bacterial DNA and thus capable of high expression in mammalian cells.
Department of Pharmaceutics is involved formulation development for various areas like, infectious diseases (TB and HIV/AIDS), anti-pschycotics, protein & peptide drug delivery etc. The Department of Pharmaceutics is also trying to establish a predictive model for the compatibility of drugs with various excipients, using various analytical methods like DSC and HPLC.
The PERD centre is working to develop a formulation that would directly target the lymphatic reservoirs of HIV/AIDS, in order to achieve effective therapeutic outcome. Studies based on enthalpy values and its contribution in predicting compatibility and incompatibility are underway.
Currently,the focus of research is on utilizing nasal route for brain delivery of certain P-gp substrate candidates, which are effluxed outside the brain and are not able to achieve desired concentration for pharmacologic effect. For enhancing the release across nasal mucosa, fatty acid and the role they might play in enhancing or altering the release is also being investigated.
A wide range of nanotechnology based formulations for varied therapeutic applications including cancer, anti-fungals, cardiac disorder and arthritis, are being developed at PERD centre. Transdermal formulations of anti-anxiety, anti-depressants, overactive bladder etc have also been developed at PERD centre. The centre has developed a novel anti-tubercular (TB) formulation for improved therapeutic efficacy of existing drugs Rifampicin and Isoniazid. This formulation is expected to have better safety and tolerability combined with faster and superior cure rates and is currently under clinical trial in tuberculosis patients at AIIMS, New Delhi.
To reduce the industry-academia gap, the Industrial Services Division was set up primarily to serve pharmaceutical companies in planning and conducting studies as well as to provide independent analytical services as part of their drug development programme. The services encompass several stages of drug development, including bioequivalence and bioavailability studies. PERD also adheres to the internationally acceptable quality standards for its clinical and laboratory services. The centre enjoys an excellent reputation for scientific honesty.
The PERD Centre has collaborations with academia and industry both in India and aboard for developing formulations, synthesis of compound libraries in the therapeutic areas like cancer, inflammation, diabetes and infectious diseases etc.
Pharmacy professionals must keep pace with the advancements in practice, research and technology. Continuing Education is the answer and is one of the major focus areas of PERD’s activity. In its 25 years of existence, PERD centre has conducted over 100 symposia (national as well as international), workshops, hands on training on various aspects of pharmaceutical research and development viz, advanced instrumentation techniques, drug delivery, cell and molecular biology, genomics etc.
PERD Centre now look forward for partnership to create centres of excellence in key functional areas with state of art infrastructure and collaboration to bridge the gap between its research and industrial requirements for successful cohabitation and symbiosis.