New Delhi: Veterans from the Indian Institutes of Technology and National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, along with pharmaceutical sector and cybersecurity experts, convened for the first meeting aimed at what officials are calling a significant overhaul of India's drug regulatory authority.

The initiative involves a structured effort to recruit over 1,500 scientists and technology specialists into an agency that has long been criticised for being understaffed.

Experts deliberated on various issues and shared their perspectives on the skillsets required in the context of the regulatory body, most-effective avenues and talent pools to attract and retain industry professionals and domain experts in regulatory service. Discussions also covered what should be the appropriate entry-level, mid-level and senior-level emoluments and benefits to ensure competitiveness.

"This was the first meeting held by the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation), which is in the process of creating a 1,500-member scientific cadre to speed up approval timelines for new drugs and meet global standards," said a senior pharma executive who attended the meeting. Approximately 40% of the workforce will be engaged on a contractual basis and may have global industry experts as advisers, the executive said.

Expert profiles under active consideration span four broad verticals. In drugs and biologicals, the core of CDSCO's mandate, the agency is targeting clinical pharmacologists, toxicologists, PK/PD (pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics) specialists, biostatisticians, bioinformaticians and pathologists with blood-bank experience.

Specialists in virology, immunology, oncology, endocrinology, pulmonology, and the fast-emerging field of cell and gene therapy (CGT) are also on the list.

Source: ET Pharma - May 06,2026