The Karnataka government has renamed the Bangalore Bio event as Bangalore India Bio 2010 which reflects the rapid growth of the sector in the last decade both at the national as well as global levels. The event in its 10 th edition being held between June 2 and 4, 2010 at Hotel Lalit Ashok, Bangalore will be highlighting the landscape of biotechnology and the investor opportunities.
The rechristening comes at the right time when biotechnology industry is fast becoming the growth driver and a key focus area for the government of India and is at an inflection point set to touch Rs 20,000 crore ($5 billion) turnover in 2010. The sector was valued at Rs 12,137 crore in fiscal 2008-9.
Bangalore India Bio 2010 is expected to increase the bandwidth of investments into the state. This year the event coincides with the Global Investors Meet being held on June 3 and 4.
“Under the Vision 2015 strategy, we are looking at the sector to be Rs. 40,000 crore ($10 billion). Biotech industry together with bio pharma manufacture, bio services, bio medical devices and bio informatics has been the growth driver for the economy”, said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, government of Karnataka and CMD Biocon Ltd.
According to Shaw, the future growth area for biotech are diagnostics, drug discovery and development, food security, renewable fuels, climate change that will drive use of green technologies. “Biotech is both a technology for the present and future. Going by the focus areas of the future, this sector will help spur the growth of Indian economy”, she added.
The new additions to the event are Vision 2015 Leadership Series which will bring heads of the biotech industry in India and abroad to create a roadmap for India to succeed in global market and podium presentations to be made by the start-up companies to portray technology and capability.
The state’s flagship event for the biotech sector had around 350 companies participate through its exhibition, conference and delegates. “ India is an important destination for the biotech industry worldwide. Over the years, Bangalore Bio has turned out to be a platform for the Indian and international biotech industry to develop strategic alliances and is being recognized as a hub for innovations & collaborations. Bangalore India Bio 2010 will play a major role in business development for India in the global biotech arena”. Therefore, Bangalore Bio is now most aptly renamed “Bangalore India Bio,”said Ashok Kumar C Manoli, Principal Secretary to Government, Department of IT, Biotechnology and S&T, Government of Karnataka.
The event will have an international exhibition, multi-track conference, BioPartnering India, CEO conclave, Bio-IP Zone, poster session and Bio-Excellence Awards Function.
The multi-track conference will address focus areas on BioPartnering India, bio collaborations with India, biopharmaceuticals, optimizing biomanufacturing and harmonization with global regulations. The Agribiotech Day is re-introduced with focus on biotechnology for food security, green biotechnology and bioenergy/biofuels.
After the phenomenal success of last year with over 600 scheduled one-to-one meetings, Technology Vision Group, USA in collaboration with MM Activ has planned the BioParterning India (BPI), to facilitate one-to-one business meetings as well as podium presentations by companies from India and overseas.
After the success of the Bio-IP Zone initiative in the previous edition, the event will enable leading national and international IP firms to address issues related to licensing, valuation, patents, trademarks & copyright. It will also help biotech companies to unlock the commercial value in their Ips.
Investment opportunities
Since this year, the event coincides with the Global Investors Meet, it will give a futher fillip to the growth opportunities. India has over the years become a strategic designation for the biotech industry worldwide and Bangalore Bio has played a pivotal role in it. The event has become a major platform developing strategic alliances and partnerships and a hub for seeking collaborative assistance in collaborative research and programmes and showcasing innovations.
According to Ashok Kumar C Manoli, the two knowledge industries IT and BT would see investments. This year, the event which is jointly organized by the state govt along with the Vision Group on Biotechnology and MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications has received a confirmed participation of 150 exhibitors and 700 delegates and 350 companies for the dedicated bio-partnering event. .
In 2008-09, the biotech sector in India had registered earnings to the tune of Rs. 12, 137 crore generated by the 350 companies of which Rs, 3,000 crore came out of the 180 companies from Karnataka.
In the last Bangalore Bio, around Rs. 285 crore of investment came in to set up biotech parks in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The central government had also given the clearance to open a genome sequencing centre. Of the Rs. 285 crore, Rs. 250 crore is allocated to establish IT and BT parks in the districts. Both centre and state would be chipping in 50 per cent each. These include agri-biotech park at Dharwad, Marine Biotech Park at Mangalore, Animal House at Bidar and Phyto-pharmaceuticals Biotech Park at Mysore. The technical support for the biotech park are from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka Veterinary Animal Fisheries University and Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI).
The Centre has also cleared the Genome Sequencing Unit, which is part of the Karnataka Bio-IT initiative. The Unit will come up in the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology(IBAB) located within the Bangalore Helix, Biotech Park at the Electronics City. Of the total funding of around Rs. 35 crore, the Centre will chip in Rs. 10 crore, Software Technology Parks of India and government of Karnataka will extend assistance to the tune of Rs. 10 crore each. The remaining will come in for Strand Genomics. The Letter of Intent was handed over by the Central government to Dr. S Yatindra, director, IBAB and Dr. Vijay Chandru, managing director, Strand Genomics.
Global experts from the industry, research and regulatory spheres will be participating in the event enabling knowledge sharing and creating networking opportunities. This year, over 150 exhibitors, 800 delegates and around 5000 business visitors are expected to participate from across India and internationally. There has been good response from Latin American countries and more number of companies for the Asia Pac region. Other country participants include USA, Canada, UK, France, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea & UAE.
The event has achieved a global status given the participation of about 20 countries . These include UK, European Business and Technology Centre with 30 companies. Canada is a making a maiden entry along with its four states of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. There will be 15 companies each from Germany and UK.