A national conference on the topic Challenges in Drug Delivery Research was organized by the Department of Pharmaceutics at Amrita School of Pharmacy during November 8 – 9, 2013.

The conference was co-sponsored by Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

The two-day conference was inaugurated by Dr. Narendra Kumar Jain, Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Harisingh Gaur University, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh. Dr. S. Krishnamoorthy, Registrar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University presided over the inaugural ceremony.

Day 1 of conference saw lecture series on Novel Drug Delivery Systems.

Novel drug delivery system is an advanced approach in drug delivery which improve drug potency, control drug release to give a sustained therapeutic effect, provide greater safety and finally target a drug specifically to a desired tissue.

The lectures elaborated on new systems for the delivery of drugs such as carbon nanotubes, liposomes and lipid nanocarriers. Delegates learned about the potential of the novel drug delivery systems and their tremendous scope in modulating the therapeutic profile of an existing drug by improving its efficacy and safety.

In the session, Carbon Nanotubes in Drug Delivery, Dr. Narendra Kumar Jain explained the tremendous capacity of carbon nanotubes for drug loading as well as drug conjugation.

Psorisome, a novel drug formulation for Psoriasis (an immune-mediated disease that affects the skin), was discussed during the session of PsorisomeTM – A Success Story at UIPS: From Laboratory to Industry by Dr. O. P. Katare, Professor, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Punjab University.

Dr. Vandana B. Patravale, Professor of Pharmaceutics, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, elaborated on lipid nanocarriers during her session – Lipid Nanocarrier : Trajon Horse for Malaria. Lipid nanocarriers are found to be very efficient for the treatment of malaria.

Day 2 of the conference began with an informative session on Biodegradable Molecules as Drug Delivery Systems.

The benefits of combinational therapy as well as various targeting approach using modified thermosensitive polymers, use of gold nano particles, application of RF wave, use of specific antibodies etc., were discussed during the session of Combinational and Targeted approaches in Polymeric Nano Drug Delivery Systems by Dr. R. Jayakumar, Professor, Amrita Center for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine.

In the session, Formulation Design and Development: Industrial Prospective, Dr. Vaibhav Dubey, Senior Research Scientist, Ranbaxy Laboratories, enlightened the listeners on how to design and develop any formulation in laboratory from industrial point of view.

Around 200 delegates from 23 pharmacy colleges across the country attended the conference. Seventy-two posters were presented on various research findings in the area of drug delivery.

“The conference helped us to gain in-depth knowledge on the subjects and I look forward to attend such programs at Amrita School of Pharmacy in future,” said Mr. T. Prakash from Swamy Vivekanandha College of Pharmacy, Tamil Nadu.

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National Conference Conducted

November 13, 2013
School of Pharmacy, Kochi