CSIR- Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), a premier drug research institute of India was inaugurated on 17th Feb 1951 by the then Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru with a vision to strengthen and advance the field of drug research and development in the country. The Institute has made significant accomplishments in the pursuit of its mission to New Drugs & Technologies for affo
rdable healthcare for all, generation of knowledge base and nurturing future leaders for healthcare sector. Today, it has become a unique model for modernized drug research in India – having everything under one roof, from synthesis, screening, development studies, process up-scaling to clinical studies. Unique achievements of the Institute includes discovery and development of 12 new drugs, of which, Arteether (Brand Name: E-mal), BESEB (Brand Name: Memory Sure), Centchroman (Brand Name: Saheli) are currently in market; transferred more than 130 indigenous technologies to the pharmaceutical companies, a significant contribution in the metamorphosis of the Indian Pharma Industry. So far, more than 10,000 research articles have been published by the Institute in peer reviewed journals. Obtained more than 350 Indian patents and 90 international patents; and produced more than 1000 Ph.D's. Several of its Alumni have occupied highest positions in national and international academic institutions, biotech and pharma industries. CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute is the seventh among the laboratories established by Government of India as a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. The idea for establishment of a laboratory exclusively for drug research was put forward by Dr. B. Mukerji, the then Director, Biochemical Standardization Laboratory, Calcutta in his presidential address to the Physiology session of the Indian Science Congress held at Nagpur in 1945. Mukerji witnessed a strong support from eminent scientists of that time. Mukerji gave further shape to the idea. His legitimate efforts in this direction, supported by the Dr. J.N. Mehta, the then Director General, Medical & Health Services, Government of India, Dr. S.S. Bhatnagar, the then Director General, Scientific and Industrial Research and endorsed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India, resulted in the phenomenal start towards establishment of the CSIR-CDRI at historical royal monument, the Chattar Manzil, a palace of the old Nawabs of Avadh. Institute was formally inaugurated on 17th February, 1951, with five R&D divisions and a skeletal staff of scientists and technicians. Today, it has evolved as a premier centre of drug R&D of national and international recognition in a span of six decades. The research is being carried out in accordance with globally acceptable regulations and GLP guidelines. The institute has a distinction of having all the infrastructural facilities for development of new drug from conceptual to commercialization stage including SAR, QSAR, combinatorial synthesis, high throughput screening, bioinformatics, proteomics, genomics, regulatory toxicology, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutics and expertise in conducting clinical trials, etc.
