As the biotech industry across the globe is witnessing major changes, the Global Bio-Business Forum, BioAsia 2011, all set to be unveiled  at Hyderabad from February 21 to 24, will give a  shot -in- the arm for the biotech industry of the region. The event aims at providing a common platform to the stakeholders and business drivers of life sciences sector to create synergies, share sustainable best practices, and chart a strategic way forward, according to organizers.

The eighth edition of BioAsia, an annual event active since 2004, is all set to see key decision-makers from the government bodies, business development executives, leaders of biotech and seed industries, investors and venture capitalists, scientists from research and development (R&D) institutions, technology transfer and intellectual property rights (IPR) specialists and scientific and medical device manufacturers  converging at Hyderabad International Convention Centre  (HICC).

HICC, the new convention centre at Hyderabad, is a world class, state of the art venue. It offers facilities that are comparable to the best in the world. It has been  designed and created to handle several parallel sessions, both large and small, with seating capacity varying from 50 to 5000 people. HICC is located about 15km from the airport and 10km from the railway station.

The event, titled  ‘BioAsia 2011: The Global Business Forum’, will be inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Science and Technology and Telecommunications Kapil Sibal on February 21 and  is expected to attract  over 10,000 visitors during the four days. The event is being jointly organized by Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA), the University of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh State government and Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil).

Commenting on the event, Dr B S Bajaj, convener of BioAsia 2011, said, “BioAsia 2011 will stand out as a unique format focusing on industry interactions and B2B meetings. This year’s event will have three track conferences viz. MediAsia, HealthAsia and AgriAsia. The MediAsia track will be focusing on oncology, diagnostics, medical devices, AgriAsia on latest developments in the world in agri-biotech and HealthAsia on pharmaceuticals with emphasis on biopharma and vaccines.”

Representatives of leading domestic as well as international companies and research institutes such as Lonza Bioscience, Biocon, Ranbaxy, Piramal  Life Sciences, Novartis, Zydus Cadilla, Neuland Labs, Gland Pharma, Bharat Biotech and  The French National Institute for Cancer, Natco Research, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and Department of Biotechnology, Government of India will be attending the event. Dr Madam Halimah Ali, Minister for Selangor State Executive Councillorrr, Malaysia; Dr Yaakob Safari, Minister for Selangor State ExecutivCouncilloror, Malaysia and Dr. Roger L Williams, CEO of US Pharmacopoeia will also take part in the event.

During the inaugural session of BioAsia 2011, ground breaking ceremony of Lonza’s facility and Biotech Innovation centre of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc, both located at Genome Valley, will also be held. The event will also see the release of white papers by the knowledge partner of the event, Grant Thornton on indigenous medical devices, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the pharmaceutical and biotech world and learning’s from the evolution of agri sector globally.

The emphasis of Bio Asia 2011 will be to facilitate enhanced cooperation among stakeholders through conferences, international trade showw and B2B partnering, CEO enclave, Bio Parks session and Bio Banquet Dinner.

While the conference gives an opportunity to learn, network with peers and share best practices,the international trade show enables an  exhibitor to showcase his strength and influencing capacity, B2B partnering will help in developing  private business network,  CEO Conclave will help share  vision and ideas in an interactive thought leadership forum and the  Bio Banquet Dinner will enable a participant to enjoy relaxed networking with peers in a soothing ambience.

BioAsia 2011 Conference is designed  to address the challenges, opportunities and factors for accelerating growth in this vibrant sector. According to the organizers , the  effort is to expose the participants to stimulating plenary lectures and brain - storming panel discussions focused on healthcare, agribiotechnology, bioeconomy, bioinfrastructure, green biotechnology etc.

Biotechnology has enabled scientists to understand the molecular basis of health and disease and improve the methods for treating and preventing diseases. BioAsia 2011, gives a special emphasis on healthcare, highlighting thrust areas like biogenerics, small molecule therapeutics, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, lab equipment and diagnostics.

BioAsia features a dedicated B2B-partnering system which assists the participants in business development and licensing activities within the Asian life sciences marketplace.B2B-partnering will   enable them to  create their  personal three-day schedule of private one -to-one  meetings with senior business representatives and company presentations from selected Asian life sciences organisations.

Further it  enables all participants to support their business development activities by a focussed range of business support services, including:

• Access to the global BioAsia business community, offering detailed company profiles of  biotech and pharma companies, CRO/CMOs, services, R&D centres, and more
• Promotion of corporate assets and actual networking opportunities, including licensing opportunities, cooperative R&D and other forms of joint venture
• Identification of business prospects and networking candidates within the BioAsia business community, and shortlisting of selected B2B-partnering candidates
• Arranging private one -to-one  meetings with hand-selected business representatives, prior to the event and integrated into the personal agenda for all conference activities
• Dedicated partnering area offering the appropriate environment to conduct your private one -to-one meetings in a functional meeting room
• Personalised on-site assistance offered by a trained partnering team, including dynamic management of partnering agenda, automated email/SMS notifications by meeting updates and more
• Individual follow-up opportunities after the event, including on-line communications, press reviews and news ticker and other dedicated B2B-services

The trade show  helps a participant to showcase his  strength and influence in the largest life science market. It will help him to take his  business to the next level of growth . Participating in the trade show empowers one  to reach out to over 10,000 participants in a short span of four days, giving  opportunities to showcase, influence and collaborate with the global biotech community.

The event will also see presenting of different awards. According to FABA, BioAsia 2010 had attracted representatives of Eli Lilly, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc, European Commission, European Business and Technology Centre, Novo Nordisk, Intercell AG, Janessen Pharmaceutica, Russian Biotechnology Society, Eisai Pharmaceuticals, Grant Thorton, Ernst and Young among others.

One major emphasis of BioAsia 2010 was on bio-partnering and trade show. The event comprised conference, trade show and B2B platform with a four- track conference model (medical biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, agriculture biotechnology and animal biotechnology) instead of the earlier model of two tracks. Over 100 speakers spoke during the course of 30 sessions spread across the four-day event. Other  highlights  were the Indo-European networking meetings, whitepapers on PPP in biotechnology and funding options for drug discovery by Grant Thornton.