Pharmacy

Curtains came down on the eleventh edition of India's premier biotechnology event Bangalore INDIA BIO, when the plethora of participants and several global organizations came together on. This platform. It reflected promising prospects in biopharma, agri-biotechnology and industrial biotechnology, as well as called for greater government industry interaction, especially in the regulatory landscape. A report...

 Manas R Bastia

 Welcome to   the   new world   order!   Global biotechnology market is increasingly looking at emerging economies like India, Brazil, China as the destination next to drive growth, of the industry, "1'he Indian biotechnology sector, especially buoyed by promising prospects in biophaima, agri- biotechnology, industrial biotechnology, among others is likely to reach the $10-billion revenue milestone by 2015. To put this in perspective, the biotech sector in the country is currently pegged at around S4 billion of which nearly 40 per cent is contributed by more than 180 companies based in Karnataka. However, when one considers the SISO-billion global .' biotech industry vis-a-vis India s minuscule share in it. the potential opportunities and the enormous efforts needed to tap it call for strategic vision and well-planned execution, to begin with. These marked some of the key reflections from the recently concluded Bangalore INDIA BIO 2011.

Grand inauguration

Aptly themed as 'Biotech for a better tomorrow', the eleventh edition of India's premier biotechnology event was inaugurated by B S Yeddvurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka and Dr V S Acharya, Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Higher Education, Planning & Statistics, Muzi-ai, Government of Karnataka. Addressing the  august  audience, Yeddyurappa said, "Bangalore offers favourable ecosystem for biotechnology industry in the state. The government will make every effort to further boost growth of this industry. We will open

four biotechnology parks in various parts of the state." On the state's initiative in promoting biotech finishing schools to create skilled workforce for the industry, he added, "Around 12 finishing schools will begin their next academic session in a few months, which will impart the required skill to the students."

The guests of honour included Dr Vishwa Mohan Katoch, Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Director General.

Indian Council of Medical Research; Jerome Bonnafont, Ambassador of France to India and Freddv Svane, Ambassador of Denmark to India. Among other dignitaries present were M N Vidyashankar, fA.S, Principal Secretary to Government, Department of IT, Biotechnology and S&T, Government of Karnataka; Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology, and CMD, Biocon Ltd.

On this occasion, VSdyashankar observed, "This event has truly become a gateway to India for the international biotech community. I am glad that the Bangalore Helix project will be put on fast track with the completion of selection process."

In the words of Dr Mazumdar- Shaw, "The biotech world is all about partnering, collaborations, leveraging each other's strengths and svnergisins them to deliver affordable innovation. It is also about making sure that entrepreneurs are recognized, celebrated and born every day."

According to a few dignitaries present at the event, the approach towards biotechnology should be as a 'holistic science' rather than merely 'genetic science'. Stressing on India's need for better laboratories in the biotech sector, Dr Katoch said, "Although we have already shown great progress in the field, there is still huge scope for improvement and development."

An array of events

Bangalore INDIA BIO 2011 comprised multi-track conferences, international trade shows, Bio Partnering India, CEO  Conclave, Bio Excellence Awards ,and a host of other events. These were organized by the Department (if Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka, Vision Croup

on Biotechnology, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications Co and the Association of Biotechnology Led enterprises (ABLE).

The   concurrent   exhibition   with about .1.40 participating organizations witnessed 5,000 visitors representing delegates,   industry,   research   and academia during the three days of Bangalore INDIA BIO 2011. The Best International Exhibitor Award was bagged by UBI France and EBTC while the other prominent winners were Xcelris l.abs, Eppendorf, Merck-Millipore, GE Health care and Nvidia.

The   Bio Partnering India initiative      received      an extraordinary response with over 530 business meetings. Bio Excellence Awards were presented m the categories of bio-pharma, agri-biu, bio-services, industrial-hi touch and bio- infonnatics after the selection process was conducted by ABLE.

Over 70 young researchers representing leading Indian and international research laboratories and institutes participated in the poster session and displayed their innovations. The poster award was bagged by Angshuman Biswas from the Stem Cell Research Lab, West Bengal University of Technology, and Kolkata for his work on cord blood banking.

A promising platform

On a concluding note, Dr Satya Dash, COO, ABLE, said, "This conference was indeed a huge success which showcased the innovations and frontier technologies such as regenerative medicines in this sector. It was also a platform for government- industry interaction, especially in the regulatory landscape."

Next year, Bangalore INDIA BIO will be held during February 6-8 with a focus on 'Safety, Security and Sustainability'. Let the Indian success story ascend to the next orbit! B335

 India Bio vital stats

• Focal theme: Biotech for a better tomorrow

• Multi-track conference: 21 sessions with 116 speakers

• Attendees: S15 delegates from 22 countries -

• Podium presentations; By 12 start-ups and innovators

• Large business delegations: From European Business and technology Center, France, Belgium, Denmark and L'SA

• Over all participatation: 450 organizations