The proposed National Animal Resource Facility in Hyderabad is making some headway with regard to Government clearances. Sources at the National Institute of Nutrition informed Pharmabiz that the proposal has been cleared by the Ministry of Finance and is now with the Planning Commission.
There is also a possibility of developing the facility in about 200 acres rather than in 100 plus acres as initially planned seeing to demand for such animal facility and the infrastructure needed to meet the scale of research requirement.
The Facility is being set up by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in support with the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. The proposed facility would assist in attracting drug discovery companies to the state. It will also act as a national reference centre.
ICMR and NIN are committed to ethical use of animals in research. Minimum possible number of animals will be used for testing and unnecessary animal suffering will be avoided. Wherever applicable, alternate methods such as model studies other than using animals will be put into use, according to sources.
The clinical trials scenario in Asia is poised to grow at an annual rate of at least 20 per cent over the next five years and China and India will witness a consistent growth. There are estimated 100 international and 300 national trials being carried out in India.
A clinical trial in India is about one-tenth of the cost of trial conducted in the US and it has been estimated that outsourced clinical trials could be worth US$ 300 million in India by 2010.
With several Indian drug discovery companies initiating clinical trials in India, clinical research companies associated with Indian and global pharmaceutical companies, the need for world class animal resource facilities has been felt, which will speed up the process of research and prove cost effective.
Drug testing in animals has helped to develop vaccines against rabies, polio, measles, mumps and rubella. Antibiotics, anti-HIV drugs, insulin and anti-cancerous chemotherapy relied on animal research.