About Partnership for Advancing Clinical Trials (PACT) initiative
- This programme has been launched for supporting COVID-19 vaccine development activities in partnering countries
- PACT initiative is being carried out in association with the external affairs ministry.
- It is under the initiative of Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of External Affairs to strengthen capacities for facilitating phase-3 clinical trials of Indian COVID vaccine in friendly neighbouring countries
- More than 100 participants from Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri Lanka took part in this training programme
- Implementation: The initiative is being implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and Clinical Development Services Agency (CDSA) under the aegis of the National Biopharma Mission and Ind-CEPI Mission of DBT.
Clinical Development Services Agency (CDSA)
- Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India launched CDSA on 28 September 2009 as an extramural unit of Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI).
- It was created to facilitate development of affordable healthcare products for public health diseases.
- Registered as a not-for-profit research organization, it aims to develop an eco-system for training and learning and work with public sector institutions, and small and medium enterprises (SME) to translate innovative technologies into medical products for public good.
Ind-CEPI Mission of DBT
- It is an India centric collaborative mission of DBT aligned to the global initiatives of CEPI (Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations).
- DBT is supporting the implementation of the Ind-CEPIs mission “Epidemic preparedness through rapid vaccine development: Support of Indian vaccine development is aligned with the global initiative of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)”, at BIRAC, PSU of DBT.
- The Ind-CEPI Mission was approved on 27th March 2019
- Ind-CEPI Mission initiated the eCourse Series entitled “Strengthening Clinical Trial Research Capacity in Neighbouring Countries” primarily aimed towards skill development, capacity building and regional networking and coordination.
Source: PIB
