Pharmacy students in Karnataka can now get hands-on training in drug manufacturing without ever setting foot inside a factory as the Karnataka State Pharmacy Council (KSPC) launched a training programme that uses virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) to simulate pharmaceutical production in a fully virtual environment, stated a report by The New Indian Express.

This is the first time such a programme in the country has been introduced by any state pharmacy council, KSPC officials said.

The programme is currently introduced at the KSPC Skill Development Centre in Attiguppe in Vijayanagar, to give students a close-to-real experience of key processes such as drug formulation, packaging, quality control, and compliance with good manufacturing practices (GMP) through 2D and 3D simulation platforms.

The inaugural batch includes 30 students from the Government College of Pharmacy, and the council plans to expand the programme across the state.

Unlike traditional lab-based training, which often relies on limited equipment and classroom demonstrations, the VR-based model eliminates physical constraints, making it scalable and repeatable for students across all institutions. It allows learners to make mistakes without risk, repeat processes until mastered, and experience industrial setups that colleges typically cannot offer, according to the report by The New Indian Express.

Health Department officials said that most pharmacy graduates still lack direct exposure to manufacturing environments due to safety and access limitations and that this new programme addresses that gap head-on.