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NIPER Mohali

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION & RESEARCH (NIPER), S.A.S. NAGAR

NIPER, SAS Nagar, Mohali was initially registered as a society under the Societies Act. The faculty for the institute was appointed in 1994. In 1998, Parliament enacted National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Act, 1998. NIPER was declared as an “Institute of National Importance” under the Act of Parliament on 26th June 1998. NIPER is a member of Association of Indian Universities.

The main objectives of the Institute:

  1. Nurture and promote quality and excellence in pharmaceutical education & research.
  2. Toning up the level of pharmaceutical education and research by training the future teachers, research scientists and managers for the industry and profession.
  3. Creation of National Centers to cater to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry and other research and teaching institutes.
  4. Collaboration with Indian industry to help it meet global challenges.
  5. National/International collaborative research.
  6. Study of sociological aspects of drug use and abuse and rural pharmacy etc.
  7. Running programmes in drug surveillance, community pharmacy and pharmaceutical management.

NIPER has ten Departments:

  1. Medicinal Chemistry
  2. Pharmaceutics
  3. Natural Products
  4. Pharmacology & Toxicology
  5. Pharmaceutical Analysis
  6. Biotechnology
  7. Pharmaceutical Technology
  8. Pharmacy Practice
  9. Pharmaceutical Management
  10. Pharmacoinformatics

Disciplines:

The first batch of students was admitted in 1998. NIPER offers Masters’ and Ph.D. degrees in 15 streams and caters to the various needs of pharmaceutical industry:

  1. Medicinal Chemistry
  2. Natural Products
  3. Traditional Medicine
  4. Pharmaceutical Analysis
  5. Pharmacology & Toxicology
  6. Regulatory Toxicology
  7. Pharmaceutical Technology (Biotechnology)
  8. Pharmaceutical Technology (Formulations)
  9. Pharmaceutical Technology (Process Chemistry)
  10. Pharmaceutics
  11. Biotechnology
  12. Pharmacy Practice
  13. Clinical Research
  14. Pharmacoinformatics
  15. Pharmaceutical Management

Infrastructure:

NIPER conducts regular education programmes for academia and industry in various disciplines and helps the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry in solving their R&D related requirements. NIPER has upgraded facilities for achieving the highest level of efficiency in imparting education and events.

There are state-of-art classrooms with installation of TV panels and laptop systems. NIPER laboratories are fully equipped with modern equipments that are equivalent to other state-of-the-art laboratories in the world. All the available facilities are of international level and standards. A Technology Development Centre has also been set up. In addition, there has been significant improvement in research infrastructure as several high value sophisticated instruments have been added which has helped in increased thrust in R&D activities.

Central Research Facilities:

Following central facilities provide support to the research groups within the Institute as well as from outside:

  1. Central Instrument Laboratory
  2. Computer Centre
  3. Library and Information Centre
  4. Central Animal facility
  5. National Toxicology Centre (GLP compliant)
  6. Technology Development Centre
  7. National Bioavailability Centre(WHO accredited)
  8. Impurity Profiling & Stability Testing Laboratory
  9. Pharmacological & Toxicological(GLP compliant) Screening Facilities

Seats for admission to P.G. Courses, Ph.D in NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar:

Since 2010, NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar, has increased seats for admission to postgraduate courses and Ph.D. programme

Courses Students admitted in year 2013
Ph.D. 20
M.S 174
M.B.A 28
Total 222

In July 2013, 232 Masters’ students [including M.S. (Pharm.), M. Pharm. and M.Tech.(Pharm.)]and 52 M.B.A. (Pharm.) students graduated from the Institute.

Academic excellence:

During 2013 (till date), the Institute has published 150 articles in journals of repute. As on date, NIPER has filed 06 patents in 2013;01 patent was granted. Since the inception of academic programme, 1,881 students have passed out (Masters-1,359, MBA-358& Ph.D.-164).

International collaborations:

The Institute entered into several International collaborations and a number of visitors from abroad and within the country visited the Institute, thus highlighting the ever-rising status of the Institute. NIPER started conducting training programs at the newly established Small and Medium Pharmaceuticals Industry Centre (SMPIC) for Small and Medium Pharmaceuticals industry on the aspects of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Instrumental analysis and manufacturing of APIs and Formulations. The centre also provides a focal point to industry academia interaction.

Recent Developments at NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar

(General)

  1. The Institute has played mother role to all the new NIPERs started in different parts of the country by helping them in variety of ways including centralized admissions.
  2. A Technology Development Centre has been set up in the NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar.
  3. The WHO accredited National Bioavailability Centre has been established with support of Deptt. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, which is one of the two centers of the world to conduct the bioavailability studies for oral fixed-dose combination of anti-tubercular drugs.
  4. The Institute has also set up the Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) compliantNational Toxicology Centre, National Centre of Pharmacoinformatics, National Centre for Safety Pharmacology and Centre for Nanotechnology with the support of Department of Science & Technology (DST) under Pharmaceutical Research & Development Support Fund (PRDSF programme).
  5. NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar, has now started trainingprogrammes for Small and Medium Pharmaceutical industry on the aspects of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), Instrumental analysis and manufacturing of APIs and Formulations. An important aspect of the training programs is the demonstration in the Technology Development Center (TDC), Central Instrument Laboratory (CIL), and Central Animal Facility (CAF), etc. Separate hands-on training modules are available for High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography (GC), and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS).
  6. NIPER has more than 1800 publications, most of them in reputed, peer-reviewed, international journals.

(Research)

  1. Neglected diseases

    1. A new methodology for the direct one-step arylation procedure for the quinolone ring was developed andten new quinolines-based potential anti-TB compounds were synthesized.
    2. A novel pathway of transferrin mediated iron uptake in M. tuberculosis has been identified,which is independent of the established siderophore-mediated uptake.
    3. One potential anti-malarial compound (NP-1962), designed and synthesized in the Institute, was found to be curative at 100 mg/kg/day x 4 dose in Plasmodium bergheimouse model; detailed testing is underway.

  • Other diseases

    1. In vitro pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibition andin vitro assays targeting adipocyte life cycle in 3T3L1 preadipocytes, viz. lipolytic activity and antiadipogenic activity, were established for testing anti-obesity potential of medicinal plants and synthetic compounds.
    2. Screening of 18 compounds from four medicinal plants, viz. Ajugabracteosa, Dysophyllastellata, Inulacuspidata and Rumexnepalensis for in vitro COX-1, COX-2 and anti-inflammatory activity in vivoshowed five compoundsto be highly active and provided stellatin as a lead molecule.
    3. Hyperglycemic and hyperinsulinemic conditions were found to induce various post-translational modifications of histone H3 leading to different chromatin re-modelling in breast cancer.
    4. A mouse model of ulcerative colitis has been established by administering dextran sulphate sodium, a non-genotoxic sulphated polysaccharide. The potential of interventional agents such as melatonin, α-lipoic acid and β-carotene to modulate multiple targets such as cytokines, nuclear factor kappa B, cyclooxygenase-2, nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2, NADPH: quinone oxidoreductase-1, matrix metalloproteinase-9 and connective tissue growth factor in the colon of mice with colitis was deciphered.

  • Drug development and formulation

    1. Studies have established the structure property relationship between compaction behaviour and crystal structure of the pharmaceutical materials using polymorphic systems.
    2. Studies to administer insulin through the oral route have yielded success in a rat model of diabetes. Efforts are on to make this a technologically and economically viable approach.

  • Other areas

    1. All water chemistry has been developed for the total synthesis of the novel class anti-anginal drug (RS), (R), and (S)-ranolazine and (RS)/(S)-Lubeluzole.
    2. Ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Selaginellabryopteris whole plants, ethyl acetate extract of Desmodiumgangeticum aerial parts, hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of Pongamiapinnata barks, ethyl acetate extract of Puerariatuberosa tubers, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts of Pinusroxburghii barks, ethyl acetate extract of C. occidentalisroots, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate extracts of Operculinaturpethum roots were found to significantly inhibit LPS-induced production of TNF-α, IL-1β and NO in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line.
    3. Standardization and quantification of various plant extracts and ayurvedic formulations ofMukkamukkatuvadigutika and Satpalaghirta were carried out using advanced chromatographic techniques like HPLC, HPTLC and GC-MS-HS.
    4. Sophisticated hyphenated equipment like high resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS), multi-stage mass spectrometer (MSn); and 500 MHz NMR were utilized to identify and characterize the degradation products were used to perform forced degradation studies of many drug molecules.
    5. Nanotoxicology studies showed that high concentration of ZnO nanoparticles caused irreparable damage to the lungs whereas rats treated with low dose could recover at a later time point.
    6. Evidence of involvement of Nrf2 and NF-κB in the pathophysiology of diabetic neuropathy.Pharmacological interventions targeting Nrf2 and NF-κB showed beneficial effects in experimental diabetic neuropathy has been provided.
    7. Various drugs (Esmolol, Levobunolol, Acebutolol, and Guaifenesin, Practolol, Alprenolol, Atenolol, etc.) were chemo-enzymatically synthesised using lipase as catalyst.
    8. Probiotic co-culture system has been developed and the changes in their surface propertieshave been studied.
    9. Study of the effect of a series of stabilizing and destabilizing osmolytes on the fibrillation pattern of a model amyoidogenic protein showed that changes during exposure of a protein to denaturing conditions in the presence of osmolyes cannot be extrapolated from their role as anti-fibrillation agents.
    10. The role of the chaperone Hsp104 in propagation of misfolded protein aggregates in the cell was deciphered.
    11. Some synthetic peptidesdeived from of human apolipoprotein E specifically bind to pro-inflammatory lipid molecules and inhibit/reduce their pro-inflammatory effects. Further characterization of these peptides is in progress.
    12. Expression and purification of fully human paraoxonase 1 (PON1) from E. coli cells has been achieved in good yield.
    13. Epidemiological (effectiveness of therapies; cholecalceferol, antiepileptics and antidepressants, quality of life, disability assessment and pharmacoeconomic analysis) and clinical trials (both pharmacological management and invasive interventional management with epidural steroid injection; parasaggitalvstransforaminal surgical approaches) have been initiated in two clinical models of chronic pain of neuropathic origin, i.e. painful diabetic neuropathy and lumbosacral pain with radiculopathy.

    • (Events and Activities)

    1. The following awards have been granted to the Institute:
      1. OPPI Scientist Award in pharmacology and toxicology
      2. SOT/AstraZeneca/SOT Endowment Fund Travel Award
      3. Bharat Jyoti (The Glory of India) Award2013
      5. CL Malhotra Prize 2013 of Annual Physiology and Pharmacology Society of India
      6. In addition, students have received awards at various national and international symposia, in recognition of the work carried out by them.
    2. The following events were conducted by the Institute:
      1. Brainstorming conference on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy 2013 (April 16, 2013); implemented with Department of Science and Technology
      2. Seminar on “Quality Aspects of Sterile Preparations" (July 2, 2013)
      3. Seminar on “Formulation Development of Oral Solid Dosage Forms” (Sept. 13, 2013)
      4. Hindi Pakhwada (Sept. 13-26, 2013)
      5. Seventh Convocation (Oct. 12, 2013)
      6. Intensive Course on Quality Assessment of Drugs and Pharmaceutical for Export –“ITEC-2013” (Nov. 11-22, 2013)
      7. Communal Harmony Campaign Week (Nov. 19-25, 2013)
      8. Seminar on “Recent trends in regulation of medical devices” (Nov. 27, 2013)
      9. Seminar on “GLP and GMP - A Regulatory Perspective” (Dec. 27, 2013)