New Delhi: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and considering the increase in the production of COVID vaccines, the government has set up two laboratories to facilitate rapid testing/pre-release certification of vaccines, the Union Ministry of Science and Technology said on Sunday.
According to the ministry, the Government of India has set up two vaccine testing facilities, an autonomous research institute at National Center for Cytology (NCCS), Pune, and the other at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) Hyderabad as Central Drugs Laboratory. . CDL), for batch testing and quality control of vaccines.
At present, the country has a Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) at Kasauli, which is the national control laboratory for testing and pre-release certification of immunobiological (vaccines and antisera) for human use in India.
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, the ministry said.
It said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Biotechnology has been at the forefront of contributing to various COVID-19 related activities including vaccine development, diagnostics and testing, bio-banking, and genomic surveillance, apart from fundamental research and the building is. A robust ecosystem for translational research.
DBT-NCCS and DBT-NIAB have been pillars for many aspects of infectious disease-related work in India and have contributed to the advancement of cutting-edge research output in frontier areas of biotechnology relevant to human health and disease.
The NCCS, Pune facility has now been notified as to the Central Drugs Laboratory for testing and issuing COVID-19 vaccines, the ministry said. The gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 28, 2021, it said.
The facility of NIAB, Hyderabad is likely to receive necessary notification shortly.
According to the ministry, in a very short span of time with the generous support of PM CARES Fund Trust, both the institutions have set up state-of-the-art modern facilities for the purpose with tireless efforts.
It said the facilities are expected to test about 60 batches of vaccines per month. The facilities have been created to test existing COVID-19 vaccines and other new COVID-19 vaccines as per the demand of the nation.
This will not only expedite vaccine manufacturing and supply, but it will be logistically convenient considering that both Pune and Hyderabad are vaccine manufacturing centers, the ministry said.
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