Govt readies two more Central Drug Laboratories in Pune and Hyderabad to test Covid vaccines

PUNE In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and considering the enhanced production of vaccines, the government has decided to set up additional laboratories to facilitate expedited testing, along with the pre-release certification of the vaccines

PUNE In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and considering the enhanced production of vaccines, the government has decided to set up additional laboratories to facilitate expedited testing, along with the pre-release certification of the vaccines.

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Currently, the nation has a Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) at Kasauli, which is the National Control Laboratory for testing and pre-release certification of Immunobiologicals (vaccines and antisera) meant for human use in India, according to the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, has set up two vaccine testing facilities at its Autonomous Research Institutes National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, and National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, (NIAB) Hyderabad, as Central Drug Laboratories (CDL), for batch testing and quality control of vaccines. Accordingly with funding support provided by the PM-CARES Fund trust, two new vaccine testing facilities have been set up as Central Drug laboratories at DBT- NCCS, and DBT-NIAB.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Biotechnology has been contributing to various Covid-19 related activities, including vaccine development, diagnostics and testing, bio-banking and genomic surveillance, in addition to fundamental research along with building an ecosystem for translational research.

DBT-NCCS and DBT-NIAB have been the pillars for many aspects of infectious disease- related work in India and have contributed to the advancement of cutting-edge research output.

“The facility at NCCS, Pune, has now been notified as the Central Drugs Laboratory for testing and lot release of Covid-19 vaccines as per the gazette notification issued by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on June 28, 2021.The facility at NIAB ,Hyderabad is likely to receive necessary notification shortly,” stated the PIB release.

The facilities are expected to test 60 batches of vaccines per month. The facilities are geared up to test existing vaccines and other newer Covid-19 vaccines. This will not only expedite vaccine manufacture and supply, but also be logistically convenient considering that both Pune and Hyderabad are the two vaccine manufacturing hubs