AstraZeneca is likely to be the first pharmaceutical company to set up an endowment chair at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Chandigarh. The provision for endowment fund, though enshrined in NIPER Act, was not taken up till now. The AstraZeneca gesture may inspire more companies to show active interest in associating with the country's premier pharmaceutical educational and research institute.

NIPER, set up by an Act of Parliament a decade back, is one of the state's best contributions towards the development of Indian pharmaceutical sector. With all NIPER students getting into reputed organizations the moment they pass out, NIPER is known for its quality training and education.

It should be noted that there is no other comprehensive HRD training centre for pharmaceuticals the country. The institution has produced over 300 MS post graduates and about 50 PHDs. About 600 papers of high impact factor have also come out from NIPER. The institution is known to be spending about Rs 10 lakhs on a student during his/her course period. However, the fee comes to only about Rs 50,000. One-third of NIPER resources have gone into investment in research.

However, pharmaceutical companies are yet to make full use of NIPER resources. For instance, NIPER library, set up at the cost of Rs 7 crore, has over 90 lakh books and publications that are of specific interest to pharmaceutical companies, which is yet to be properly utilized by the pharmaceutical industry. "Even though we have provision to give corporate memberships to pharmaceutical companies, very few firms show interest in it," NIPER sources informed.

Interestingly, NIPER has a GLP certified toxicology testing laboratory and a WHO GMP compliant pilot manufacturing facility that could be completely utilized by the industry. The cost of maintenance of the facility is so huge that under-utilization of its capacity may drain the resources of the institution. A technology development centre is functional. NIPER also offers an herbal facility to the industry. NIPER sources felt that the industry should fully utilize the existing facilities before lobbying for more such facilities.

Though the number of companies currently utilizing the facilities are less, the number of enquires are on the rise, NIPER sources said. Ranbaxy, Pfizer, Nicholas Piramal India Limited etc are some of the leading pharma companies who are utilizing NIPER facilities.