MCOPS has got the infrastructure to conduct research in the major discipline of pharmaceutical sciences which include formulation development, drug discovery and development studies, molecular and cellular levels studies, herbal drug development, clinical research and quality assurance.
Formulation development
Formulation and development is a key sector in the growth of pharmaceutical industry. Thus new dosage form with appropriate drug delivery system to enhance patient compliance is a challenging task. MCOPS has got state-of-the art formulation development laboratories and infrastructure to carry out the research in the field. The following equipment are used to develop, evaluate and characterize the formulation in the following areas of Transdermal/ skin drug delivery systems, Oral dosage forms, Solubility enhancement techniques, Implants, Semisolid dosage forms, Ocular controlled systems, Dental preparations and Nanopharmaceuticals.
- Emulsiflex, Avestin, Canada
- High Performance Liquid Chromatography
- Malvern Particle size analyzer
- Super Critical Fluid Particle Processor
- Fluidized Bed Processor
- Freeze Drier
- Rotary Evaporator
- Ball Mill
- Rotary Tablet Compression Machine
- Colloid Mill
- Tray Drier
- SPF Analyser
- UV Spectrophotometer
- Differential Scanning Calorimeter
- Milli-Q Water Purification Assembly
Drug discovery and development
Drug discovery and development is the crux of the pharmaceutical sciences. Even today a large number of diseases do not have medication to eliminate the disease/disorder, for instance cancer, tuberculosis, malaria just to name a few. Therefore, there is a need for development of new chemicals with high safety margin and better efficacy profile. Three departments of MCOPS namely Pharmaceutical chemistry, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical biotechnology have involved in drug discovery development related research. The major areas include design of new chemical entities in the field of anticancer, antihypertensive, antitubercular agents, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, Inflammation, Wound repair, Neurological disorders, Radioprotection, etc and infrastructure/equipment available in these departments are as follows.
- Computerized Molecular Modeling Facilities
- Parallel Synthesizer
- Microwave Organic Synthesizer
- Flash Chromatography
- Biosafety Level II cabinets
- CO2 Incubator
- Liquid Nitrogen Storage Facility
- Inverted Microscope
- PCR Instrument
- Microtiter Plate Reader with Fluorescence and Chemiluminiscence
- Microtiter Plate Washer
- Autoanalyser
- Western Blot
- Electrophoresis Units
- Lab Scale Fermenter
- Orbital Shaker Incubators
- LC-MS/MS with Ion Trap Analyzer
- High-performance Liquid Chromatography System
- Powerlab Instrument
- Microtome etc.
Molecular and Cellular Level Research
It is not just sufficient to say a drug has got an action. What perhaps required is to explain how the drug has shown its action. To explicitly point out the drug action one has to reach to the level of cell and the major molecules of cell. In the last several years the Department of Pharmacology and Department of Biotechnology have strengthened their infrastructure towards this angle. The major areas of research include anticancer, RNA interference, virology, antiaging, anti-obesity, neurological disorders and hepatoprotective activities and for these studies the infrastructure available in these departments are as follows.
- Biosafety Cabinet Level II
- Laminar Flow Unit
- Lab scale Fermentor
- Orbital Shaker Incubator
- Inverted Microscope with Fluorescent Attachment
- Microtitre Plate Washer
- PCR Instrument
- Microtitre Plate Reader with Fluorescence and Chemiluminiscence
- Animal Tissue Culture Facility
- Autoanalyzer
- CO2 Incubator
Herbal drug development
The Department of Pharmacognosy, established in 1971, has been actively engaged in the herbal research. With experienced well qualified faculty, the constant inputs for department improvement have resulted in excellent infrastructure and spacious well-equipped laboratories with sophisticated equipment especial crafted for herbal product development and evaluation. Dedicated labs for formulation development and evaluation comprising of dissolution apparatus, HPLC, HPTLC and UV spectrophotometer are in place. The Department is equipped with required infrastructure for the phytochemical investigation. Freez drier, roto-vapors and large scale columns are added for purification and isolation of bioactives from plant material. Herbal dietary supplements in the form of tablets, floating tablets, herbal patches, and different herbal creams have been successfully developed and evaluated in the department. The major instruments in this department include,
- Freez Drier
- Soxlet Apparatus
- Rota-vapor
- Large Scale Columns
- Incubator for Plant Cell Biotechnology
- High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)
- High-performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
Clinical research
Department of Pharmacy Practice is involved in the practice based research area by establishing various clinical services in the Kasturba hospital. Drug information, adverse drug reaction and medication errors and clinical toxicology were the areas of research during initial years. The department has expanded the scope of research from clinical to industrial areas like pharmacovigilance, clinical trials and regulatory affairs. 11 PhD level research work has been completed in the department. Current thrust areas of research includes pharmaceutical care, renal disease, respiratory disorders, patient safety, pharmacometrics, clinical toxicology and infectious disease and antibiotic stewardship and electronic documentation of pharmacy services and its impact on practice.
Quality Assurance
Analysis is an integral part of the drug discovery and development process. MCOPS boasts of one of the most sophisticated analytical facility in an academic institution. The department has the infrastructural and intellectual capability to meet any analytical development challenges. The department can develop analytical methods for any drug molecules even at picogram level, impurity profiling of new chemical entities (NCE) and new drug products, perfusion studies stability indicating assay methods, quality policies, manuals and SOPs.
A brief list of instruments available in the department are
- LC-MS/MS with Ion Trap Analyzer
- High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)
- High-performance Liquid Chromatography Systems (electrochemical, fluorescence, UV, photodiode detectors)
- GC-MS System
- FTIR Spectrophotometer
- UV Spectrophotometer
- Differential Scanning Calorimeter
- Ultracentrifuge
- Milli-Q Water Purification Assembly