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New DTL with capacity to test 5,000 samples inaugurated in Madurai, operations to start next month
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
October 13 , 2022
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The quality control mechanism for medicines and drugs in the southern part of Tamil Nadu will soon be strengthened with the commissioning of the new drug testing laboratory (DTL) set up near Anna University’s distance education campus in Madurai.
The state chief minister inaugurated the state-of-the-laboratory in virtual mode from Chennai last week, though the operation is yet to kick off.
According to sources from the drugs control department, this is the second DTL owned by the department of drugs control, the first one, which is NABL accredited, being set up in the directorate premises in Chennai. The Chennai lab has the capacity to test 10,000 samples per annum.
According to Ra.Siva, the chief government analyst, the Madurai DTL is a joint venture of central and state governments. The total expenditure for establishing the lab crossed Rs. 20 crore but out of it, Rs. 6.69 crore has been set aside for purchase of machinery and equipment. Most modern machinery has been ordered for purchase by the state medical services corporation (TN MSCL) through open tenders. The analyst said the lab will become a full-fledged facility to test and analyze samples collected by drug inspectors from 18 districts in the southern part of the state in November. Ra. Siva said the Madurai lab has the capacity to test 5,000 samples in a year, and about 30 staff including one chief analyst, one deputy analyst and five analysts will be appointed soon. The process is going on in the government secretariat.
Regarding equipment and other machineries, he said the TN MSCL is procuring the machineries and the department is waiting for their order. “Once we get the machinery, we will complete the calibration and validation process within two days and start the operations immediately. He said the new lab is a world class drug testing laboratory for testing and analysis of drug samples and cosmetic samples.
A senior officer at the directorate said a short period of delay happened in the completion of work and inauguration of the project because of the Covid pandemic which hampered the ongoing work during that period. Now almost 90 percent of the work has been finished, only installation of machinery remains, which would be carried out as early as possible and the TN MSCL is working hard for it.
The health department has one more drug testing laboratory apart from the two labs controlled by the drugs control department. It is located at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research (KIPMR) in Guindy, which analyses parenteral preparations. However, it receives samples collected by the drug inspectors for testing and analysis. KIPMR is owned by the directorate of medical education (DME).
M Sreedharan, the joint drug controller, who was previously working as the ADC in Madurai said once the new DTL in Madurai is commissioned, it will speed up the analytical process of samples collected by the drug inspectors from the southern states. Currently the inspectors send the samples drawn by them to the Chennai lab which experiences excessive workload. This can be reduced when the Madurai lab starts operation.
As regards collection of samples, Sreedharan said as per provisions of the drugs and cosmetics act, wherever the drug inspectors notice any contravention, it is their bounden duty to take legal action against it. The act says that a drug inspector has to carry out 55 inspections and do eight sample collections in one month. Similarly the senior drug inspector is bound to conduct 20 inspections and eight sample collections. If all the sample collections put together, the number will cross 10,000.
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