Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday called on the industry, academia and regulatory networks to work together to spur indigenous development of new biological medicines, including existing drugs, for the treatment of rare and neglected diseases, innovation on new product categories such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy and personalised medicines.

He also highlighted the need to initiate studies using state-of-the-art analytical platforms to promote the development of pharmacopeial monographs for new biologicals made from updated technologies.

If such products were developed indigenously, “the treatments will become more affordable for the common man and also our public health system will become stronger”, he added.

Mandaviya was delivering his video address to the National Summit on Quality of Biologicals. The summit was organised by the National Institute of Biologicals (NIB) here.

“National Institute of Biologicals is playing a vital role in ensuring that only quality biological products reach the health system, thereby strengthening our prime minister’s mission of ensuring quality health and wellness for all,” he said.

The National Summit will act as a platform to bring together stakeholders, regulatory authorities and academia for interaction on various aspects of quality assurance of biologicals. These interactions will spearhead capacity-building, technology enhancement and development of newer biologicals for promoting and safeguarding public health contributing towards the government’s mandate of ‘Healthy India’.

Mandaviya noted that “biological drugs have emerged as a choice of therapy along with conventional chemical drugs”. The medical emergency over the past few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic has seen Indian Biopharma and diagnostic industry proving to be a strategic asset to meet the public health requirement not only of the country but other nations as well, he added.

Congratulating NIB for bringing multiple stakeholders on a single platform, the Union minister said that “this summit will provide a base for gap analysis in the currently prevalent quality assurance approaches in India”.

“It will help upgrade the infrastructure and technologies of the country’s biopharmaceuticals and in-vitro diagnostic industry and enhance its capacity to develop world-class products and promote public health,” he stated.