ICMR licenses cancer, vaccine technologies to Emcure, Biological E

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has licensed three biomedical technologies developed by its scientists to leading Indian pharmaceutical and vaccine companies for further development, manufacturing and sale of products based on them, according to officials.

The technologies cover cancer treatment and protection against infectious diseases, they told ET, adding that the move is a fresh push to turn government-funded research into real healthcare products and another step toward building India's biomedical innovation ecosystem.

Also Read: ICMR replaces old system with single window approval for medical studies


The technologies include SHetA2, a drug candidate for treating Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN)- an early, precancerous stage caused by HPV infection that can turn into cervical cancer if untreated. It has been licensed to Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

SHetA2 was developed by Dr Showket Hussain of ICMR's National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (ICMR-NICPR), working with Dr Doris M. Benbrook of the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma. It works by killing HPV-affected precancerous and cancerous cells while leaving healthy cells alone.

"This could make it a safer, cheaper and less invasive treatment option compared to what's currently available," the health ministry said in a statement.

The other two technologies target bacterial gut infections and have been licensed to Biological E Ltd. Both were developed by Dr Santasabuj Das and his team at ICMR's National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections (ICMR-NIRBI), Kolkata.

One is a vaccine candidate built from a protein found on the surface of Salmonella typhi, aimed at fighting typhoid, while the other is a combined vaccine designed to protect against Salmonella typhi/paratyphi and Shigella, three major causes of gut infections in one shot.

Also Read: People living by river drains more prone to cancer: ICMR cites study

Dr Rajiv Bahl, secretary of the Department of Health Research and Director General of ICMR, said the goal is to make sure publicly funded research actually leads to better health outcomes. He said programmes like 'Patent Mitra' help connect scientists with industry so lab discoveries can become real products.