Mollick Mahmood, Pharmacist Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) is a multidisciplinary national scientific research establishment. This organization was established in 1955 with an objective to do comprehensive research for scientific and industrial development of the country. During the journey of this research institute, it has many vital contributions to the nation by developing many new products and processes through it devoted research involvement in various fields. It has been continuously playing very important role in the field of scientific and industrial development of the country. Scientists of BCSIR are engaged in research & development activities with the aim and objective to develop technology and to achieve self-reliance in industrial development. In addition to R&D activities, BCSIR also provides analytical and other services to any people and organization.
Current areas & major fields of research and development activities of BCSIR are:
1. Glass & Ceramics
2. Pulp & Paper
3. Biotechnology
4. Production of various chemical from organic sources
5. Production of durable & low cost housing materials
6. Analytical Research
7. Industrial Physics
8. Production of Instrument useable in Laboratories
9. Biological Sciences
10. Leather Research and Development
11. Fiber & Polymer
12. Food Science & Nutrition
13. Food Microbiology
14. Animal Food Technology
15. Oilseeds & Legumes Technology
16. Plant Food Technology
17. Food Science & Quality Control
18. Conservation of Energy and Exploration of the New Energy Sources
19. Improved Oven Technology
20. Biogas Technology
21. Chemistry
22. Plant Science
23. Pharmacology
24. Khair
25. Lac
26. Processing of fruits
27. Fats and Waxes
28. Fiber
29. Oil and Oilseeds
30. Pilot Plant and Techno-economic Study
31. Environmental Pollution
32. Tissue Culture
33. Solar Oven
34. Aromatic Plants
35. Medicinal Plants
36. Human Nutrition
37. Effect of processing on the nutrient content of foods
38. Poultry feeds Research Achievement Number of research papers published ----------------------------- 2500 Number of industrial/commercial problems solved ------------- 7500 Number of industrial process developed --------------------------- 516 Number of patents gained -------------------------------------------- 204 Number of process leased out --------------------------------------- 198 Number of industries under full production using process Developed in the Council --------------------------------------------- 35 Number of new industries setup based on the process Developed in the Council -----------------------------------------------15 Number of entrepreneurs taking lease of the process Developed in the Council -----------------------------------------------101 BCSIR is not doing RnD work directly on pharmaceutical field now.
Out of 38 fields of research Medicinal plants, Human nutrition and Biotechnology are the allied areas of pharmaceutical RnD. It has developed physical lab for API research and bioassay lab for cancer, ant-diabetic activities screening of some new compounds. We have taken initiative to open a pharmaceutical Research Division in BCSIR recently. This RnD division will mainly work in API synthesis, dosage form design and analytical services to pharma companies. All pharma companies specially the leaders should come forward to spend more in RnD activities in formulation designing, API synthesis and new molecules search. There can be an excellent collaboration between the scientists from BCSIR, universities and industry. Scientists from BCSIR can conduct research with financial and technical support from the pharmaceutical sector.
Possible contribution to pharma industry:
i. Joint venture R & D projects between BCSIR and pharmaceutical companies will help to gather technical know-how to reduce dependency on imported raw materials, to improve quality of medicines etc.
ii. Opportunities of bioequivalence study and clinical trials may be created. Currently, bioequivalency tests are conducted in foreign countries resulting in huge expenditure of pharmaceutical industries.
iii. To evaluate the biological activity of medicines by carrying out pharmacological, toxicological and animal dose response experiment, clinical trials and their quality assurance.
iv. To carry out chemical investigation on the interesting resources for the isolation, purification and identification of bioactive principles (lead compounds for drug development) using modern techniques.
v. Development and production of improved medicines with emphasis on proper quality control.
vi. Determination of effective dose of medicine by pharmacological or clinical tests and observation of their biological value.
vii. Designing of dosage forms for commercial utilization to small and medium pharma companies who don't have adequate RnD facilities.
viii. Development of medicines from the natural resources of our country for remedies of the mostly prevalent diseases like diabetes, cancers, chronic dysentery, chronic ulcer etc.
Local pharma companies have emerged as the major players in the industry occupying substantial share of the total market. Some companies are also exporting medicines at an increasing volume. WTO rule creates the opportunity to enhance and expedite medicine export for Bangladesh. In the mean time many leading pharma companies have already achieved international approval like UK-MHRA, TGA, GCC and EU-GMP facility approval. Our pharma products (medicines) are very high standard of quality which are comparable to international standard.
The pharma industry in Bangladesh does not have the adequate research infrastructure and capacity to discover new molecular entities and API synthesis through reverse engineering process as patented molecules. In order to avail vast opportunity, all the identified problems need immediate solution. Developing the R & D units, including API and reverse engineering technologies are the key factors for building capacity of manufacturing quality medicines to cater the changing needs at home and abroad. Local companies can engage scientists from BCSIR to utilize their academic knowledge and research experience. The industry leaders and government must take joint initiatives to go for backward integration through immediate implementation of API park activities as an urgent agenda. To support the API park activities properly the initiative like pharmaceutical RnD division taken by BCSIR is a timely step. The government should foster this industry with ease of activities of the industry and if necessary incentives in some areas to encourage the growth of domestic pharmaceutical industry. It is also necessary to strengthen the regulatory body to ensure high quality of medicine. The present Gov. has upgraded the drugs regulatory body from directorate to directorate general. Now it is called Director General of Drugs Administration (DGDA). The DGDA has been suffering from lack of modernization, manpower and technology. There is also limitation in the drug testing laboratories. Pharmaceutical sector of Bangladesh is not only our pride but also a great strength for the country's future development. This sector has been saving huge foreign currency by stopping medicine import and also has great potentiality to earn huge foreign exchange through exporting medicines to foreign countries.
The following lines of actions are suggested to expedite sustainable success of this sector: Bangladesh must give special emphasis on RnD related to API in order to reduce dependency on imported raw materials. BCSIR has already taken initiative for API development under Pharmaceutical RnD division. Joint venture projects with renowned foreign pharmaceutical companies are necessary for R & D. It will help us to acquire new technology quickly. Quality of the medicine is not only the necessity but also an obsession. BCSIR in both ways through expert scientist and machineries can contribute to the related RnD activities of quality assurance. BCSIR has the state-of-the-art technology and sufficient number of well-qualified scientists, so it can play the role of a reference drug testing laboratory for pharma industry of Bangladesh. Opportunities of bioequivalence study and clinical trials should be created. Currently, bioequivalence tests are conducted in foreign countries resulting in huge expenditure of pharmaceutical industries. BCSIR has also taken this initiative to setup a bioequivalence laboratory.
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