Open Lab

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from related chemistry and biology experiments.” He adds, “The key to the project’s success is that any discovery would be off patent. An open-source license would keep all discoveries freely available to researchers and—eventually—to drug makers. The absence of patents, and the use of volunteer staff, would contain the costs of drug development.”

Typically, the project would start with identifying the gene that needs to be targeted, screening thousands of chemical molecules that could potentially work, researching their efficacy, testing them first on animals and, subsequently, on human beings. Finally, launching the drug in the market would come under the ambit of drug companies.

Basically, the concept is intended to provide all the tools and training required for drug discovery till the insilico experimentations (computing-based experimentation). Thereafter, clever mechanisms are being worked out that harness the productivity of the various government and university laboratories to continue with the drug discovery process, including the wet experimentations, till the final molecule is identified after clinical trials. This concept will also take care of the issue of lack of human resources by generating more scientists who have the skills for modern drug discovery.

The era of collaborative R&D has been initiated in the country, informs CSIR director-general Samir K Brahmachari, adding that a pilot project will be kicked off in March on Tuberculosis bacilli. Co-development of projects through open source reduces cost as well as the time taken for discovery as many minds would be working together for novel targets, he says.

Before we predict how the interested parties in drug discovery will benefit from new open-source products that address their needs with increased flexibility, it would be worthwhile to take stock of the prevailing drug discovery scenario. As per the available estimates for the developed countries, the cost of discovering a single drug molecule and its further development representing a journey from mind to market place, ranges between Rs 1,000-2,000 crore and takes about 10-12 years. Further, commercial success of a drug is somewhat uncertain. The rate of success can be as low as 1%.