As part of upgrading lab infrastructure in the state, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has started testing around 30 samples at the newly set up Nagpur lab on a daily basis with lab staff from Aurangabad and Mumbai based testing labs.

The lab has also got NABL accreditation. All the labs in Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nagpur are being strengthened. With the up gradation of labs, drawing drug samples, analysing them for safety and drug recall have become a feasible proposition.

Delay in analysing not-of-standard and sub-standard drugs and preparing results of drug samples could be reduced considerably with the setting up of Nagpur lab.

“The construction for the first of its kind rapid microbiological testing lab at a cost of Rs.4.5 crore is also nearing completion at the Mumbai FDA headquarters for microbiological testing,” says Maharashtra FDA Joint Commissioner Amrut Nikhade.

Gujarat Medical Services Corporation Ltd (GMSCL) is also in the process of procuring equipment for setting up rapid microbiological testing lab at Vadodara which will bring turnaround time for drug testing from 14 days to just 4 hours.

Earlier, Maharashtra FDA had only two drug testing laboratories one at Mumbai and another at Aurangabad.

Centre sanctioned Rs.138 crore for strengthening drug regulatory system in the state. Funds to the tune of Rs.17 crore were allocated for the Nagpur project for strengthening labs and manpower.

Union health ministry is also in the process of setting up three of the eight mini drug testing labs at Nhava Sheva at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai Airport and Ahmedabad Airport as part of its mandate to control exports and imports of spurious drugs.

The mini-labs will be manned by a team of nine technical personnel led by a senior scientific officer. Health ministry plan includes setting up of mini-drug testing labs at Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai.

According to the plan, labs will be equipped with advanced analytical modalities like AAS, GC, HPLC, IR and NIRS among others for effective detection, analysis and reporting on drug quality.