By Tricitynews Reporter
Chandigarh 17th
August:- Johnson & Johnson Private Limited today announced a
new partnership with the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), part of
the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to unlock the
potential of Indian science and help accelerate the discovery of innovative new
treatments for tuberculosis (TB).
Under the Memorandum of
Understanding, scientists from Johnson & Johnson’s global public health
team will work closely with scientists from CSIR-IMTECH, based in Chandigarh,
India, on a research and development program to explore potentially more
effective, safer, all-oral treatment regimens to tackle multidrug-resistant TB
(MDR-TB), as well as new molecular entities to treat all TB patients.
We are united with India in our
determination to make TB history,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Chief Scientific
Officer, Johnson & Johnson, who joined Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for
Science and Technology, at an event in New Delhi, to announce the Memorandum of
Understanding. “While we have made great advances in recent years with the
approval of new TB medicines much more needs to be done. By bringing
together some of India’s brightest minds with our scientists, we increase the
potential to achieve major research breakthroughs that can lead to innovative
new treatments for the millions of people in India and around the world who
suffer from TB.
The new research program will capitalize
on CSIR-IMTECH’s world-class expertise in microbial technology and research and
the proven research and development capabilities of Johnson & Johnson’s
Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies to strengthen the collective potential of our
research efforts.
Dr. Anil Koul, Director, CSIR-IMTECH
said that TB remains a significant challenge in India, killing approximately
half a million-people in 2015 alone. The partnership we have announced today
with Johnson & Johnson has the potential to accelerate our work in support
of India’s National Strategic Plan, our accelerated action plan to End TB by
2025, and most importantly save lives.
Today’s announcement builds on nearly
20 years of TB research and development by Johnson & Johnson, which led to
the approval of bedaquiline, the first new TB medicine in nearly 50 years, and
adds to existing partnerships at central and state levels in India to increase
awareness, diagnosis and care, and broaden access to bedaquiline.
In March 2016, Janssen India and the
Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (under the aegis of the Director
General of Health Services) announced a Conditional Access Program (CAP) to
provide bedaquiline free-of-charge for 600 patients across six sites in India.
In April 2017, it was confirmed that
the CAP would be expanded to additional TB patients across 156 sites. Janssen
India has also partnered with authorities in Mumbai, Telangana, Patna and
Nagpur to increase awareness of TB and improve access to diagnosis, treatment
and care.
Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director,
Janssen India said that Johnson & Johnson companies have been serving the
healthcare needs of India for seventy years now; and this partnership forms an
important part of our commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ program,
supporting Indian drug development for a disease that affects more than 2.8
million people in our country.
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