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Pfizer’s Handa is new MD of Wyeth IndiaLower forex losses put Ranbaxy back in the blackPfizer profit up 26% on job cutsPfizer forms policies to raise standards

: direction? Is the much-touted ‘Wiki’ approach to drug making flawed? “These discussions or concerns are being conducted by OSDD members who are interested in making OSDD a success,” defends Zakir Thomas, OSDD project director and head of CSIR director-general’s technical cell.

“The strength of any open source project is such open and free exchange of thoughts and ideas. These ideas exchanged by the community members would help to anticipate and avert any chance of failure. The reason why Linux and other open source software are more robust is that it is worked on by large number of contributors who form a community. The OSDD community is taking the same approach for problem solving in drug discovery,” says Thomas. He adds, “Be that as it may, much of the concerns expressed are already addressed in OSDD.”

Few are aware but TB kills 30,00,000 people in the world every year, more than AIDS, malaria, and other tropical disease combined. In India too, TB is one of the leading causes of mortality in India—killing 2 persons every three minute, nearly 1,000 every day.

More disturbing news: There are not enough drugs in the pipeline for market release for TB in near future. Despite over 10 years of efforts by industry and R&D laboratories and the isolated efforts of individuals worldwide, not even a single new drug molecule against TB has resulted, although some are at various stages of clinical trials.

Most public-funded institutions do a lot of biomedical research, but the last mile of drug discovery is left to the pharmaceutical industry, which is essentially a ‘closed-door’ activity. With respect to diseases of the poor, for example, TB, where the market incentive is very small, it is not possible to convince the pharmaceutical companies to work on these drugs, says Samir K Brahmachari, director-general, CSIR.

It is was in this backdrop that the OSDD initiative of CSIR was launched last year, in anticipation that ‘affordable’ drugs for the underprivileged, especially for neglected diseases like TB, malaria, etc would soon be a reality. While government has committed Rs 150 crore towards this project, an equivalent amount of funding would be raised from international agencies and philanthropists. Here’s a quick rundown on the project.