Nuclear emergency drug developed with DRDO tech gets approval

A critical drug developed on a DRDO technology for radiological and nuclear emergencies has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

The drug -- 'prussian blue' insoluble formulations -- was developed under the Technology Development Fund (TDF).

The TDF was launched primarily for creating an ecosystem for promoting self-reliance by building indigenous state-of-the-art systems for defence application.

In a statement, the defence ministry said the drug has been developed by the industry based on the technology of Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi.

The INMAS is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

"The manufacturing and marketing licences for the commercial use of Prussian blue insoluble formulations, developed under the Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme, have been granted to Scott-Edil Pharmacia Ltd, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh and Skanttr Lifescience LLP, Ahmedabad, Gujarat by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)," the ministry said.

It said the drug will be available under the trade name of Pru-DecorpTM and PruDecorp-MG.

"The formulations are used for decontamination of Cesium and Thallium and its Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). It is one of the critical medicines listed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for radiological and nuclear emergencies," the ministry said.

DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat has congratulated the teams involved in development of the drug.

"He stated that the development of these drug formulations under the TDF project and the approval of DCGI is a successful endeavour of the DRDO for promoting the industry to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'," the ministry said.