Research funds offered to pharma industry

Financing will help companies to address challenges, boost growth

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), in collaboration with the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), has expressed its willingness to fund the research projects of pharmaceutical companies to help them resolve key issues and achieve better growth.

PSF Chairman Professor Dr Shahid Mehmood Baig announced this while talking to representatives of the pharmaceutical industry at the ICCI.

Baig was of the view that currently there was a lack of communication between the academia and industries, and the consultative meeting between the PSF and the representatives of pharmaceutical companies was part of efforts to strengthen the academia-industry linkages.

He asked the pharmaceutical units to send their research projects to the PSF through the ICCI, which would be considered for funding on merit.

He praised the universities for undertaking good research work, adding that the PSF in collaboration with the universities would try to find optimum solutions to the challenges faced by the pharma industry.

“PSF is also ready to work with the pharmaceutical industry on the public-private partnership model to promote research projects in order to resolve its major issues and facilitate better growth,” Baig stressed.

ICCI President Muhammad Shakeel Munir appreciated the efforts of PSF for promoting scientific research and providing funds for research projects in various fields of science and technology.

“The government should give top priority to science and technology, as its role is crucial in resolving the industrial, economic, social and environmental issues and putting the country on the path of sustainable growth,” he emphasised.

ICCI’s Pharmaceutical Committee Convener Nasir Qureshi highlighted that over the years Pakistan’s pharmaceutical industry had grown from 30 to 850 companies, including multinationals, due to which the country had become self-sufficient in medicines and was exporting too.

However, he urged the government to help the pharmaceutical companies in achieving latest technology and knowledge.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2022.

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