--Must See--

Bioinformatics Summer Internship 2024 With Hands-On-Training + Project / Dissertation - 30 Days, 3 Months & 6 Months Duration

The global pharma firm Johnson & Johnson, in an attempt to tackle the ever-growing incidence of tuberculosis in India, partnered 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).

The development could make India to become the first to roll-out a treatment for TB, including multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), in the world.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding, scientists from Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) – part of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – will work with their counterparts at Johnson & Johnson to explore more effective, safer and all-oral treatment regimens to tackle multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), as well as new molecular entities to treat all TB patients.

The partnership will combine CSIR-IMTECH’s expertise in microbial technology and research with drug development expertise of J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceutical companies to build on nearly 20 years of TB research by J&J. The collaboration will, in addition, add to existing partnerships at the central and state levels in India to improve TB awareness, diagnosis, and care and to broaden access to J&J’s TB medicine bedaquiline

.

“We are united with India in our determination to make TB a history,” Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson, said in a statement.

“While we have made great advances in recent years, we want to 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,” Stoffels added.

“TB remains a significant challenge in India, killing approximately half a million people in 2015 alone,” said Anil Koul, Ph.D., director, CSIR-IMTECH. “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 to save lives.”

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.

And the announcement builds on this 20-year long 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.

“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,” added Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director, Janssen India.

In search of the perfect burger. Serial eater. In her spare time, practises her "Vader Voice". Passionate about dance. Real Weird.