The first international exhibition and conference on biotechnology, Biotech India 2003, organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has started here on February 5, 2003. The conference also witnessed the launch of a CII-Rabo India Biotechnology Report for the benefit of the industry. The event is being held as a part of the 15th International Engineering and Technology Fair. The conference is to end on February 8, 2003.
During the inaugural address, N K Singh, member, Planning Commission said that India has to realize its latent potential that existed in the biotech sector if it has to become a knowledge driven economy in future.
There were three challenges that needed to be overcome to able to realize the full potential of the biotech sector, according to Singh. First, there was a need to attract more venture capital in the sector. The second challenge was the need for greater focus on research & development by both the government and the industry and the third to formulate an enabling fiscal regime that would foster the growth in the India biotech sector, he opined.
Venture capital had played a critical role in the growth of the software sector in India and the same model had to be replicated for the biotech sector, he added. On R&D front, he pointed out that although three years back the government had announced the establishment of a dedicated fund for R&D, the fund had not been very successful.
A report of a joint study conducted by Rabo India and CII, titled The Business of Biotechnology - A Structural & Financial Perspective was launched at the Biotech 2003. Rana Kapoor, managing director, Rabo India stated that the study addressed some of the issues facing the entrepreneurs in the biotechnology sector in India. The report covered various opportunities, issues and success factors in the Indian biotechnology sector, an overview and financing trends in the global industry and financing options available in India. It also had a brief primer for entrepreneurs on fund raising, he added.
Dr. Rashmi Barbhaiya, president R&D, Ranbaxy stated that India possessed certain inherent advantages over other countries that would enable it to excel in the biotechnology sector. These advantages were strength in chemistry, tradition of chemical engineering and cost effective manufacturing, a well established chain of training institutes, world class IT infrastructure and a experience of conducting successful clinical studies. All these factors gave the Indian biotech sector and an ability to discover and develop new drugs.
Dr. Barbhaiya also identified some factors that could impede the growth of this sector in the years to come. These were the slow liberalization process, ambiguities in laws and regulations, lack of culture of R&D, insufficient networking between the industry, academia and the research institutes, lack of IPR knowledge and lack of preparedness to handle the IPR scenario post 2005.
Dr. Arthur Carty, President, National Research Council, Canada in his address stated that India had achieved rapid and impressive growth in the biotech sector over the years and according to studies conducted by his organization the biotech sector would be valued at US $ 5 billion by the year 2010. Highlighting the performance of the biotech sector in Canada, he stated that the number of firms in the sector in Canada had increased from a mere 50 in 1984 to 400 in 2001. The revenues accruing to this sector had increased from US $ 1.9 billion in 1999 to US $ 5 billion in 2002, he added. Canada had also established world-class R&D facilities in the biotech sector, he pointed out.
Dr. Swati Piramal, Nicholas Piramal Limited, in her address said that the roadmap for making India a world class player in the biotech sector needed to comprise of the following: promotion of innovation and modern technology; realizing the economic; social benefits of biotech; building trust for the users and consumers of biotech products and deriving benefits for the environment via applications of biotechnology. The government and the industry needed to join hands to create a transparent framework of policies and regulations so that the environment in India would be conducive for the growth of the biotech sector in India, she added.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairman, CII National Committee on Biotechnology & CMD Biocon India Limited in her opening remarks stated that the biotech sector in India was at a fledgling stage comprising of 200 companies and employing 20,000 scientists. The sector was presently valued at US $ 500 million and was growing at a rate of 30 per cent per annum, she added. The fact that the Indian Government had a dedicated Department of Biotechnology was an added advantage for the sector, according to her. There were also may state level bio clusters that had developed over the years in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, stated Kiran Mazumdar. However, the lack of venture capital in biotech was impeding the growth of this sector, she pointed out.
Habil F Khorakiwala, chairman, Wockhardt Limited, in his closing remarks said that biotechnology has helped us in acquiring knowledge on why some individuals were more susceptible to certain diseases and this knowledge would enable us to find permanent remedies for many of the diseases that are incurable today. By 2010 it is expected that the functioning and location of all the genes in the human body would be discovered, he added.