For a Biotech-slant in Pharmacy

‘The theme of the recently held 54th IPC at Pune, ‘‘Biotechnology - a challenge to Pharmacy Profession,’’ has rightly been chosen by the organisers as more and more drugs in the present research pipeline, and the future drugs of tomorrow, are going to be biologicals in a biotechnology driven era. With the advance of genomics in the study of human diseases that will predict disease profiles by identifying individual genes, development of therapies are increasingly being concentrated in vaccines and sera etc. While conventional biotech products have been developed in our country, certain specialised therapeutic products and diagnostics are in development. Around a dozen complex bioactive therapeutic proteins are already produced in India and large Indian pharma companies have medical biotech joint ventures or agreements with renowned overseas partners. Thus future research and investments will be in vaccines, diagnostics, molecular medicines and blood components in the healthcare area of biotechnology. Private industry and Indian institutions are tying up with overseas institutions for basic science research in related areas like molecular biology and molecular medicine. Others are setting up bioinformatics organisations to help training and provide services like data mining, protein modelling or genome servicing. In light of these contemporary developments in the pharma/healthcare fields, it is but natural for introspection by the pharmacy profession to gauge their preparedness and for appropriate changes in current curriculum for the students. The pharmacy profession in its entire spectrum will need to be geared to this shift in coming years and be effectively prepared. Thus, a major part of the symposium covering and analysing R&D, production, QC, education and regulatory affairs in the biotech segment as matter for discussion in such forums is welcome and beneficial to one and all including students.

However, at the undergraduate and graduate levels, biotechnology appears to be a somewhat incomprehensible topic which needs to be demistyfied to a great extent and the simpler and finer nuances of the subject addressed to the students by teachers who are well informed and dedicated. The Pharmacy Council of India and the All India Council of Technical Education will have to play a more dynamic and effective role in upgrading undergraduate and post graduate levels for teaching biotech related subjects like molecular and cell biology, immunology, tissue culture, genetic engineering, bioprocess technology, computer modelling of molecular structures and interactions as well as bioinformatics etc. This is far drawn from the present conventional pharmacy education which concentrates practically on synthetic molecules. Times are changing fast where treatment of diseases at the molecular level employing DNA technology, stem cell technology or hybridoma technology is going to be the in thing. It is a pity that pharmacy students in India still are loaded with an industrial pharmacy slant and not to the other important pharmacy professions as in developed countries and one is already talking of the role of a pharmacist in the biotech era! When biotech advances and gene therapies will alter the practice of medicine itself, pharmacists who ideally play a greater role in healthcare, should in all earnest be prepared for a future redeveloping their roles to provide important services in the healthcare chain.

ananth_iyer@mailcity.com