The department of Natural Products came into existence as one of the six basic departments opened at time of inception of NIPER on September 1, 1994. The department was adequately equipped in two years and it started doctoral program in July 1996. The medicinal plants garden was also created with a view to develop it as a referral centre for authentication of botanicals for research purposes. The admission to Masters’ program was opened in July 1998 through a national level entrance test. The department offers courses for degrees in M.S.Pharm. (Natural Products), M.S.Pharm.(Traditional Medicines) and Ph.D. (Natural Products). The main thrust of the academic programs focuses on researches on standardization and quality control of herbal/traditional medicinal products, discovery of new bioactive molecules for various therapeutic areas, design and synthesis of natural products and their analogs. The students are also exposed to interdisciplinary curricula so as to enable them to undertake researches in drug discovery, herbal drug development and process chemistry of active constituents. The courses are designed to integrate traditional knowledge with modern medicines.

The department has attracted funding by receiving research grants from various government, non government and international agencies such as Department of AYUSH, Central Council of Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS), and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology   (DBT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under Ministry of Science and Technology; International Foundation for Science (IFS), Sweden, Unichem Laboratories Limited, Mumbai, National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Dabur Research Foundation, Merck & Co., Inc. USA etc. etc. The department also has active international collaborations with Australian National University, Australia and University of Louisville, USA. Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. The faculty has also undertaken a number of industry sponsored projects and consultancy assignments. The department has also collaborated with leading institutes in India like NCCS, Pune for anti-HIV agents and IIIM, Jammu for anti-cancer activity etc. The department has also networked with 13 institutes in all states of north-east India for herbal wealth development, which is one of the biodiversity hot-spots of the world. The research efforts have led to several publications in journals of repute, both national and international and generation of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The technical support has been provided to Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, Ayurvedic Formulary of India and Indian Pharmacopoeia in their development of standard monographs on botanicals and their formulations. The department has also contributed to the series of books on quality standards of Indian medicinal plants by ICMR.

Presently, the department has three faculties, all having exposure to international research laboratories. Seven students have completed their doctorate and are well placed in academia and industry or have found positions as post doctoral fellows abroad. Eight batches of M.S. (Pharm.) students have also passed out and have been well accepted in industry. The department has successfully conducted two national workshops, one on curriculum development in natural products at post-graduate level to provide leadership in pharmaceutical education and research need for natural products development and one on cultivation techniques of medicinal plants to all stake-holders right from cultivators, quality control personnel working for the processing industry visited NIPER in March, 2006.   They were apprised with Integrative Medicine Development programs being developed by the Department of Natural Products and Shows the Medicinal Plants Garden at NIPER.

The Department is well equipped and has state of the art facilities for research. It has well established chromatography laboratory with several HPLCs (analytical and preparative) equipped with all different detections, HPTLC, counter current chromatography, and LC-MS with dedicated ELSD and PDA detectors. The department has also a pilot facility for plant material extractions ranging from basic macerator to highly sophisticated Pressurized Liquid Extractor (PLE). The department has recently procured Supercritical Fluid Extraction Systems (SCFE) of both lab and pilot scale and is under installation. The department also has freeze dryer, pilot scale evaporators and extractors. The department has a well established biology laboratory for biological evaluation of natural products and a tissue culture facility.