Dr. Jitendra Singh addresses Lucknow academia, emphasises early Industry linkage for “sustainable” StartUps

India needs Indian solutions for Indian problems and Indian remedies for Indian disease, said the Minister, while referring to some critical drug research projects going on at Indian institutes and CSIR laboratories.

The Union Minister said Artificial Intelligence, coupled with young minds, will transform the scenario with stronger foundation for the blueprint ahead. He said India is emerging as a cost effective start-up destination, we need to ask stakeholders and startups what they are looking for and act accordingly.
Commenting on CDRI’s pipeline of drugs, he said that India has a wide spectrum of unmet clinical needs with a heterogeneous distribution.  These unmet needs must be addressed by our scientists so that solutions can emerge. He added that the ecosystem and the research milieu was well set for Indian scientists to develop drugs for India.

The Minister appreciated CDRI’s collaborative approach and said that institutions must work together. This includes public-public and public-private collaboration. Commenting on CDRI’s agreement for research and development with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, he emphasised that it is important to understand what industry wants and jointly develop products from the start. In terms of basic research, he encouraged integration of research across disciplines at the PhD level by creating opportunities for students to have co-guides.

The Union S&T Minister said drug discovery and development are fraught with risk and require consistent, long term and sustained investment. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the private pharmaceutical industry’s appetite for risk is limited. Organizations like CDRI become effective partners for industry and expand the scope of innovation for the country. Research that is cutting edge can be pursued in academia. Once proof-of-concept is established, the innovation can be taken forward by industry.  Thus, a seamless movement of knowledge and data from academia to partners helps to move the IP from lab to market.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said ‘One Week One Lab’ (OWOL) programme, during which laboratories spread across the country unveil their remarkable research outcomes and accomplishments, will prove to be a milestone. He said the idea is not only to showcase ourselves but also to make stakeholders realize what we have to offer them so they can avail it and we can integrate.

He said CDRI should incorporate more and more young brains to bring in innovation and novelty in technology. The Union Minister said that when we opened the Space sector for start-up we had a good response.  He said there is no dearth of funds. India is not just financially rich but also is rich in ideas and novelty.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said, India has seen two successful stories, – vaccine story and Aroma Mission & Floriculture Mission. He said the first one provided people good health and the other one promoted the cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry. He said attempts are on to enable Indian farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in the production.

An MoU was also  signed between SGPGIMS and CDRI in presence of Union Minister and Dr. Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR. MoU will help to create greater connect between clinicians and researchers and ultimately lead to more impactful research and development.

Dr Radha Rangarajan, Director, CSIR-CDRI and Dr Prabodh K. Trivedi, Director CIMAP briefed the Union Minister with a presentation.