Lok Sabha Question No. 2190 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-23
Subject: COVID-19 Pandemic
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Uttam Kumar Nalamada Reddy

## (a) & (b)

During the current COVID-19 crisis, Government of India is working towards development of innovative technological interventions in terms of devices, diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics  &  other  related  interventions  through  its  various  concerned  Ministries  and Departments. In past few months, major focus has been put forth on fostering R&D support to  industries  and  academia  towards  development of diagnostic kits,  therapeutics,  vaccines and other interventions like efficient sanitization methods, facial mask, Contactless Digital Sanitation etc. The budget allocated to different schemes for R&D is Rs.379.53 Crore. The details of these activities are given in Annexure-A .

- (c) The technological interventions supported through various Ministries and their Departments in terms of diagnostics, therapeutics, PPEs, masks, sanitizers etc. are being used across the country in order to protect people from this COVID virus.
- (d) The  various  PPE,  Masks  and  Diagnostic  kits  have  been  deployed  across  the  country including the Government offices.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 2190

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.09.2020

## Covid-19 Pandemic

2190. Shri Uttam Kumar Reddy Nalamada:

## Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- a) The details of Government approved technology driven solutions and interventions to address the COVID-19 pandemic;
- b) The funds allocated for research of technology to address the pandemic;
- c) The details of plans to roll out these solutions to the public in order to protect people from the virus till a more permanent solution is found; and
- d) Whether any of these solutions have been implemented in Government offices and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

## A. Department of Biotechnology (DBT):

The  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT)  and  its  public  sector  undertaking  Biotechnology  Industry Research  Assistance  Council  (BIRAC)  have  collaborated  across the  healthcare  innovation  ecosystem ranging from biotech companies to entrepreneurs coming up with innovations to academic institutions to  address  the  COVID-19  global  health  care  crisis.  A  call  on  COVID-19  Research  Consortium  was announced  to  support  R&D  proposals  on  devices,  diagnostics,  therapeutics,  vaccine  candidates  and other interventions.

1. Devices & Diagnostics: The Department has supported Infectious disease lab (I-Lab), which is a mobile  lab  for  COVID-19 testing under the National  Biopharma  Mission to the Andhra Pradesh Med Tech Zone (AMTZ), Vishakapatnam in order to further enable testing access to rural India. The I-lab was launched by Hon'ble Minister S&T, MoHFW & MoES on 18 th Jun 2020. This can perform both RT-PCR and ELISA tests. The first lab is attached to THSTI hub and had performed about 5000 tests in the Faridabad region. The Department is supporting17 proposals in the area of Diagnostics with a total cost of 1000.93 lakhs.
2. Therapeutics: Considering the present COVID crisis, the Department is supporting 13 proposals in the area of Therapeutics with a total cost of Rs. 964.035 Lakhs. Of these, some of the targeted leads are very much promising.
3. Vaccine: Recognizing the critical requirement for a safe and efficacious vaccine for COVID-19, in effective  control  of  the  pandemic,  the  Government  of  India,  is  supporting  vaccine  development activities. Currently, nearly 30 vaccine candidates for COVID-19, based on multiple technologies / platforms are under development in India, by both academia and industry. Of these, the Department of Biotechnology is supporting 8 proposals by industry and 2 by academia for candidate vaccine development and associated research resources.A total cost of INR 75 crore has been allocated for supporting vaccine development efforts. Availability of vaccine is subject to successful completion of Phase III clinical trials.
4. Other interventions: In the area of Other Interventions, the Department is supporting 5 proposals with a total cost of Rs. 86.88 Lakhs.
5. Herbal  Formulations: The  Department  is  implementing3  Sub-Networks  under  'DBT-AYUSH Network Programme on R&D Activities related to SARS-CoV-2 Virus and COVID-19 Disease' at a total cost of ₹ 595.44 lakhs to be shared equally by DBT and National Medicinal Plants  Board (NMPB),  Ministry  of  AYUSH  with  an  aim  to  screen  selected  traditional  knowledge-based medicinal plants and classical formulations for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities in cell culture models of  virus  infection. Studies are also planned to be carried out on preclinical and pharmacokinetics evaluation  of  selected  AYUSH  herbal  extracts  /  formulations  for  mitigating  SARS-CoV2  and associated pathologies.

The  Department  in  collaboration  with  Biotechnology  Industry  Research  Assistance  Council (BIRAC) announced a Joint call on "Anti- SARS-CoV-2 /nCoV-2 Virus Studies using Botanical Ingredients and Traditional Formulations" . Under this call, total 229 proposals were received for further processing.

## Annexure -A

6. COVID-19  Bio-bank: As  per the directives  of  Cabinet  Secretary  of  National  COVID-19  Biorepositories  and  recent  ICMR  notification, the  Department  is  also  supporting  COVID-19  Biorepositories at following centers with a total cost of Rs. 1099.00 Lakhs:
7. Under National  Biopharma Mission ,  the  Department  is  supporting  technology  driven  solutions and  interventions  to  address  COVID-19  pandemic  broadly  in  the  area  of  vaccines,  devices  and diagnostics and therapeutics with a total investment of Rs. 222.crores. The details of technologies under support are as follows:

|   S.N | Institute                                                                                                                                                          |
|-------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|     1 | NCR-Biotech Science Cluster, a. Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad and b. Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad |
|     2 | Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangalore                                                                                      |
|     3 | Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar                                                                                                                      |
|     4 | National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune                                                                                                                      |
|     5 | Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi (DBT-supported Bio- repository)                                                                          |

| Segment                                                          | Technologies Supported                                                                           |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Vaccines                                                         | Vaccine - Development of recombinant vector vaccine                                              |
|                                                                  | Vaccine - Phase III trial of rBCG vaccine                                                        |
|                                                                  | Vaccine - DNAvaccine                                                                             |
|                                                                  | Vaccine - Development of Rabies vector based vaccine                                             |
|                                                                  | Production of spike protein and receptor binding domain protein of SARS CoV-2 for Diagnostic use |
|                                                                  | Vaccine evaluation animal model platform                                                         |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology (RT PCR test)                                                              |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology - (Colorimetric test)                                                      |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology (Lateral Flow assay based antigen detection test kit)                      |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology (ELISA kit)                                                                |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology (Swab testing)                                                             |
| Diagnostics (n= 8 Diagnostic kits and 2 manufacturing Facilities | Diagnostic Technology (Rapid point of care detection kit)                                        |

|                      | Diagnostic Technology (Scale up of virus detection kits)                            |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                      | Diagnostic Technology (Lateral flow platform for viral antigen detection)           |
|                      | Medi Tech Facility for manufacturing reagents and raw materials for diagnostic kits |
|                      | Medi Tech Facility - Manufacturing facility for kits, ventilators and probes        |
| Therapeutics (n = 2) | Antibody development from convalescent patient blood and equine sources             |
| Therapeutics (n = 2) | Antibody development from convalescent patient blood                                |

## 8. Biotechnology Industry Research AssistanceCouncil(BIRAC) support:

- a. Under the  BIRAC's Fast  tracked  Review  and  Funding  support  under  COVID-19 fund, 5 Start-ups have been approved.
- b. BIRAC - Research Consortium: BIRAC is supporting technology  driven  solutions and interventions to address COVID-19 pandemic broadly within the area of vaccines, diagnostics  and  devices,  therapeutics,  Drugs  and  any  other  interventions.  Under  the BIRAC - Research Consortium Budget ,  a  total  investment of Rs. 10crores has been committed for COVID-19.
- B. Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) is supporting various activities in this area.  UnderNew  Millennium  Indian  Technology  Leadership  Initiative  (NMITLI)  Scheme, six projects are being implemented at Rs. 965.600 lakh. Under a special Call, 36 projects are being  implemented  at  Rs.  2541.54  lakh.  The  following  activities  are  being  supported through CSIR:

## a. Diagnostics:

FELUDA: CSIR-IGIB has developed indigenous novel Covid-19 diagnostic kit called FELUDA (FNCAS9 Editor-Linked Uniform Detection Assay), a CRISPR-Cas9 based test  licensed  to  TATA  Sons.  FELUDA  has  been  approved  by  the  Drug  Controller General of India (DCGI). This is the only third CRISPR based technology in the world to obtain regulatory approval for the detection of Coronavirus. The other methods using Cas12 and Cas13 proteins were developed by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and MIT in the USA. This method uses the FnCAS9 enzyme which was characterized and adapted for Covid19 detection at CSIR-IGIB. The detection relies on a simple visual readout using paper-based detection chemistry. It is rapid, sensitive and  specific.  The  entire method  takes  up  to  an hour,  does  not  need  high-end instrumentation and can aid in scaling up the testing quickly in the country.

## b. Drug Development:

-  Favipiravir: CSIR-IICT has developed and patented the synthesis of Favipiravir. It has transferred the process to Cipla for manufacturing. Cipla has brought the drug to the market. Further, CSIR transferred the process to another 5 companies on nonexclusive basis. This product is approved by DCGI as drug for mild and moderate patients of Covid-19
-  Remdesivir: CSIR-IICT  has  developed  process  technology  and  handed  over  to companies  that  have  got  a  license  from  Gilead.  CSIR  technology  has  resulted  in providing this drug at an affordable price to patients.

## c. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):

-  Coverall: CSIR-NAL  has  developed  high  quality  PPEs  and  transferred  the technology  to  MAFL,  Bengaluru.  It  has  gone  through  stringent  testing  at  South India Textile Research Association (SITRA), Coimbatore and has been certified to ASTM F1670/F1670M-08(2014) for use. After certification, about one lakh pieces have  been  supplied  to  Government.  The  current  capacity  of  the  production  is 7000/day which can be enhanced to 30,000/day depending upon requirement.
-  Face Mask: CSIR constituents laboratories have developed following face masks :
- i) High  Efficiency  Hydrophobic  Three-Layered  Facemask: The  facemask  is composed of two/three hydrophobic non-woven polypropylene (PP) layers in the outer and inner side and a 'High Efficiency Particulate Air' filter in the middle. The performance of the developed mask certified from SITRA, Coimbatore.
- ii ) Poly Ti:A Biopolymer Coated Medical Grade Mask: It is a two layered masks that use biopolymer (Bacterial cellulose) coated mask, which are having much higher  surface  area  and  very  fine  nanofiber  of  cellulose  to  trap  viruses  and bacteria.  It  is  developed  using  the  patented  technology  of  CSIR-NCL  on Bacterial  cellulose.  The  performance  of  the  developed  mask  certified  from SITRA, Coimbatore.
- iii ) Reusable  Face  Mask  with  Antimicrobial  Coating: It  is  a  tri-layered  mask which consists of the hydrophobic outer layer that repels the liquid aerosol and the middle bactericidal layer to kill the microbes that comes in contact with the masks  thereby  providing  dual  protection  benefits  to  the  end-users.  The  inner hydrophilic layer absorbs the hot air, sweat and facilitates improved breathability. These masks and the coatings have been designed and formulated to sustain up to 30-50 washes. The properties of the masks have been certified by SITRA, Coimbatore.
- C. AYUSH: Ayush Sanjivani mobile app developed by Ministry of AYUSH has been launched to generate data on acceptance and usage of AYUSH advocacies and measures among the population and its impact in prevention of COVID-19 targeting 05 million populations. This mobile  app  is  also  having  advisories  related  to  need  for  self-care  measures  for  immunity boosting and various Ayurvedic immunity promoting measures during COVID-19 crisis.
- D. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR): has validated 866 diagnostic commodities for  COVID-19.  Out  of  this,  443  have  been  approved.  Additionally,  alternate  indigenous testing platforms like TrueNat and CBNAAT have also been validated and approved for use. These platforms have improved access to testing at district and primary health center level. Also,  newer  Rapid  Antigen  Tests  have  been  validated  and  approved  for  use.  This  has increased  access  to  testing  at  field  level.  Indigenization  of  technologies  for  COVID-19 testing  as  well  as  handholding  of  indigenous  manufacturers  has  tremendously  helped  in upscaling testing in India.

## E. Department of Science and Technology (DST):

DST has announced a call on COVID -19 under Technology Development Board (TDB) and approved proposals and financial support for diagnostics development.