The Karnataka drugs control department has received 42 High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) under a World Bank funded Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project (KHSD&RP) assistance which is estimated at Rs.6 crore.

In addition to the HPLC, the drugs control department has also received a total of four lab equipments covering UV Spectrometry, water purifier and dissolution test apparatus.

“The range of new equipment will now bolster our testing capability as we will be able to analyse more number of samples and be able to deliver the assessment reports of not-of-standard quality drugs at a faster pace,” Dr BR Jagashetty, drugs controller, Government of Karnataka told Pharmabiz.

As part of the 42 HPLC installation initiative by the global medical device major Shimadzu Corporation under the Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project, a team of 42 senior and junior scientific officers from Karnataka drug test lab will now be trained at Singapore. The training will be carried out in batches of four or five officers and this is a major boost for the drugs test services in the state, said Dr Jagashetty.

The equipment will be installed at the three drug test labs located at Bengaluru, Hubli and Bellary, he said.

Meanwhile the state drugs control department is also awaiting the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification for its lab in Bengaluru as the audit is complete. Efforts are also on to augment the Hubli and Bellary drug test labs in terms of furbishing of infrastructure. “We had already invested Rs.25 crore for the labs at Hubli and Bellary and now we would require an additional Rs.9.5 crore for which a proposal has been sent to department of health and family welfare and the final clearance is awaited from the state finance department. We will then work towards NABL certification for the two labs too,” said Dr Jagashetty.

With the modernization of the labs, there would be need for the qualified and trained personnel. The state government has now approved the selection of 59 junior scientific officers out of the sanctioned 114 posts for the drug test labs in the state. However a shortage of 30 officers would still continue, said the Karnataka drugs controller.