Frontier Mediville has got the Environment Ministry’s green signal to start small and large animal housing facilities for research purposes, said KM Cherian, Chairman and Chief Executive of Frontier Lifeline Hospital, adding that it could well be the largest such facility in the country.

It would be able to house over 90 beagle-type dogs, 100 pigs, 100 sheep and 100 buffaloes, Cherian told Business Line , against the backdrop of the facility getting its approval from the CPCSEA or the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals.

The early stages in developing a medicine involve testing the prospective drug on small and large animals for toxicity, among other things. The small animals include mice, rabbits and guinea pigs, while the large ones include beagles and monkeys, for example.

But research on animals is an emotive issue, as pro-health and animal-rights groups call for the animals to be housed under better conditions and over shorter periods of time, besides bringing under intense scrutiny the number of small and large animals used in research. In fact, they urge researchers to explore humane scientific alternatives in the interest of good science.

Responding to these concerns, Cherian said, “It took us one-and-a-half years to get the approval from the Government.” And it is the responsibility of the Government to undertake a strict monitoring of labs, he adds.

Touted to be India’s first medical special economic zone, Frontier Mediville is located at Elavur village, about 40 kilometres away from Chennai. It was developed by Frontier Lifeline Hospitals and Dr. K M Cherian Heart Foundation in partnership with Tamilnadu Industrial Developmental Corporation and the Technology Development Board.

More research

Having an animal facility that adheres to the Government’s GMP and GLP (Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Laboratory Practices) norms, will attract drug companies to undertake research here, he said. And as research is done locally, it will make locally-researched drugs and products more economical, even as it brings in foreign exchange, he added.

CPCSEA member Chinny Krishna said that the law permits animal houses, provided they meet specifications. But like the drugs regulator in India, for instance, the regulator here too is short-staffed, he said.

Some labs could fly below the radar, he indicated, as they do not register themselves with the CPCSEA. Of the 5,000-odd research labs in the country, only 2,000 are registered, he says. Even now there are instances where dogs are imported as pets, but taken for research, he points out, adding that the status of monkeys in research was particularly bad and needed to be banned.

>jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in

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