Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 3: Sun Pharma bestowed Dr. Anil Koul, Director, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (Chandigarh) as the winner of the 2017 ‘Sun Pharma Science Foundation Award’ (also known as ‘Ranbaxy Research Award) for his role in discovery and development of a novel drug against resistant Tuberculosis- SIRTUROTM.
Dr. Koul’s candidature for this award was selected among several nominations by an independent committee comprising of world-renowned scientists. The award ceremony was held on April 28 at India Habitat Center presided by the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Jagat Prakash Nadda. Also present at this event was the chief guest, Prof. Mike Turner, Head- Infection and Immunology, Welcome Trust, UK, the world’s second-largest private funding agency for biomedical research. Several other luminaries from academia and Industry attended the event. This award recognized the work done over last several years that went into the discovery and development of SIRTUROTM, generically also called as Bedaquiline. On this occasion, Dr Koul said “It is an honor to receive an award of this stature and to be recognized for your efforts towards issues of the global public health”.
India accounts for over 480,000 tuberculosis deaths annually which amounts to 27% of the global disease burden. SIRTURO belongs to a new drug class with a new mechanism of action – blocking bacterial energy production. This is the first new drug in last 45 years to be discovered for treatment of drug-resistant TB and is approved in US, Europe and several other countries. In 2015, Indian Government approved SIRTUROTM for conditional use in patients with drug-resistant TB. Till date, several thousand drug-resistant TB patients across the world have received SIRTUROTM. “Anil’s contributions in fundamental science and its translation into new TB drug will help millions of patients”, said Prof. Arun Grover, Vice Chancellor, Panjab University and founder president, Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC). Dr. Koul’s joining as Director, CSIR-IMTECH has added strength to the activities under the aegis of CRIKC.
Prior to this, Dr. Koul has received many accolades including ‘Swiss-TB Prize’ conferred by Switzerland’s Society of Pneumology and was invited to European Parliament to present to members of Europe-India Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the United Nation’s STOP TB program.
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