Pharmaceutical Research

THE largest Indo-German venture in drugs and chemicals will in future spend large sums on basic research and development in the field of pharmaceu-ticals. The research centre, being set up by Hoechst Pharmaceuticals in Mulund, Bombay, is expected to function by mid-1971. Construction has already begun, and the sophisticated scientific appliances required for this project will soon arrive in Bombay from the parent firm, Farbwerke Hoechst of West Germany. It will take a particular inte-rest in Indian medicinal herbs and undertake large-scale screening of plants collected from different parts of the country to find therapeutically active substances. Thus India is developing indigenous research and knowhow in a field where special experience is avail-able and where it could ultimately be-come competitive in international mar-kets.