CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), Lucknow, celebrated its 71st Annual Day on 17 February 2022. On this occasion, the prestigious 47th Sir Edward Mellanby Memorial Oration was delivered by Prof. Balram Bhargava, Secretary, Department of Health Research (Ministry of Health & Family Welfare) & Director General, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research).

The topic of his talk was “Going Viral: Making of Covaxin, the inside story”. He said that Trust, Transparency, Timeline & Mutual Respect are the key to success for the development of Covaxin in record time through Public-Private Partnership. He further mentioned that to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Government followed Buddha's Middle Path for managing the lockdown. With Covaxin, we proved that we could manufacture vaccines from start to finish. This story is an inspiring example for the scientific world.

Dr Shekhar C. Mande, Secretary, DSIR & Director General, CSIR, greeted the team CSIR-CDRI and expressed his trust on the commitment of the Institute staff in contribution towards the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Industry 

Dr Tapas Kumar Kundu, Director, CSIR-CDRI, welcomed all the dignitaries and briefed the achievements of the Institute in the past year. During the year, the Institute has licensed Dalbergia sissoo — US patent (US 10,292,994, B2) to AVETA Biomics Inc. USA for further development as a botanical drug for the treatment of Osteo-health-related disorders as per USFDA regulations. 

Further, two of the promising investigational new drugs S007-867 (antithrombotic) and S007-1500 (fracture healing drug candidate) have been licensed to Industry partners for further collaborative development. Phase I clinical trial for both the INDs shall be initiated shortly. The institute also has a rich pipeline of new leads and candidate drugs for different disease areas of national importance including malaria, leishmaniasis, cancer, neuropathic pain, stroke, BPH, etc. 

Technology transfer of a potential rapid fracture-healing drug candidate (S007-1500) to Troikaa Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd.

Director, Dr Tapas Kumar Kundu announced a collaboration in the form of a license agreement between CSIR-CDRI, Lucknow and Troikaa Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad to develop, manufacture and commercialise CSIR-CDRI’s S007-1500 as a potential rapid fracture-healing agent. The collaboration aims to leverage CSIR-CDRI’s drug discovery expertise and Troikaa’s broad expertise in clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation to speed up the drug development programme.

Team Leader Dr Atul Goel and Dr Divya Singh informed, currently there is no oral treatment available for fractured bone healing. CSIR-CDRI has developed a novel small molecule S007-1500 (a new chemical entity) as a rapid fracture-healing agent. The efficacy and safety of S007-1500 have been established by CSIR-CDRI in various animal models. CSIR-CDRI has received approval to conduct Phase-I clinical trial from CDSCO, India. 

Troikaa wishes to unleash its expertise in clinical development for further evaluation of safety and efficacy of S007-1500 in humans and giving patients much needed treatment options for rapid healing of bone fractures, said Dr Asheel Patel Executive Director, Troikaa, Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd Ahmedabad. 

Annual Report 2021-2022 was also released by dignitaries and the programme was concluded with vote of thanks by Dr Ajay K. Srivastava, Chairman organising committee.

Announcement of CDRI Awards-2022 for Excellence in Drug Research 

The prestigious CDRI Awards-2022 for Excellence in Drug Research was also announced. These awards will be conferred on CSIR’s Foundation Day in September this year. For the prestigious CDRI Awards 2022 for Excellence in Drug Research in Chemical Sciences category, Dr Alakesh Bisai, Professor, Department of Chemistry, IISER Kolkata and Dr S.S.V. Ramasastry, Associate Professor, IISER Mohali have been selected. 

In the Life Sciences category, Dr Maddika Subba Reddy, Staff Scientist-V, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad and Dr Amit Awasthi, Associate Professor, THSTI, Faridabad, have been selected for the CDRI Awards 2022.

Annual Awards-2021 for the Best Technology, Patents & Publications 

The Best Technology Award-2021 was conferred jointly to the technology "Fluorescent Dye (CDRI-KD1) and Quenchers (CDRI-KQ3, CDRI-KQ4) for the development of Indigenous qRT-PCR testing kit" (Transferred to Biotech Desk Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad) and to the developer of "A novel small molecule antiplatelet compound S007-867" (Technology transferred to MARC Laboratories Pvt, Ltd., Lucknow).

• Dr Mridula Kamboj Award-2021 for Technology was conferred to the technology for "Development of Umifenovir as possible Treatment of COVID-19".
• The Best Patent Award-2021 was conferred to the patent granted in Australia to "A Formulation Useful for Delivery of Neuro Protecting Agent".
• The Best Publication Award-2021: Eleven Research papers, with more than seven impact factors were awarded the Annual incentive award.

Academic Career Achievement Awards-2022 for Research Scholars 
Distinguished Career Achievement Awards-2022

a) Dr MM Dhar Memorial Distinguished Career Achievement     Award-    2022 in Chemical Sciences: Mr Anuj Kumar    
b) Dr MM Dhar Memorial Distinguished Career Achievement     Award-    2022 in Biological Sciences: Mr Mushtaq Nengroo
c) Dr JM Khanna Memorial Distinguished Career Achievement     Award-2022 in Pre-clinical & Clinical Sciences: Mr Syed Anees     Ahmed 

Early Career Achievement Awards-2022
a) Dr JM Khanna Memorial Early Career Achievement Award 2022     (Jointly)
    (1) Mr Ashfaq Ahmad
    (2) Mr Krishna Bhan Singh
b) Dr Swarn Nitya Anand Memorial Early Career Achievement     Award 2022 for Women Research Scholars: Ms Deblina Roy
c) Dr DL Srivastava Memorial Early Career Achievement Award     2022: Mr Mayur DilipraoAmbule