Even as India's tour de force performance on the global biotech stage is winning confetti and cheers from the world over, the Garden City is all set to witness the confluence of the high priests of this sector , adding vim and vigour to the onward march of the nation in this field.
As the 11th edition of India’s premier biotechnology event ‘Bangalore India Bio 2012 unfurls from February 6-8, 2012, at the Hotel Lalit Ashok, the participants view it as a platform to create a phalanx of bare-knuckled bio-entrepreneurs and hunt for promising candidates to fit into potential employment opportunities
The three day event is customarily organized by the government of Karnataka Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology Science &Technology, Vision Group on Biotechnology and event management team MM Active.
This year’s event theme, ‘India- the emerging Bio Economy’ will focus on creation of job opportunities and encourage investments in start-ups.
Currently in India, paucity of funds has been stunting the growth of biotech start-ups. While there have been a couple of sources like the Small Business Innovative Research Initiative (SBIRI) for the small and medium enterprises and the Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) to support the R&D projects of big companies, there has been no dedicated fund to help an idea take off, so long, the early stage entrepreneurs had to seek the necessary finances from University grants, public and angel funding. But in the US and EU, Ignition grants or the venture capital or Innovative Medicine Initiative are some of the funds earmarked for pre-proof-of-concept studies, said Dr. Satya Dash, Chief Operating Officer, Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs, India (ABLE).
Indian biotech industry is on a positive growth trajectory, with the hubs like the Bangalore Helix, and Hyderabad’s Genome Valley along with substantial contributions coming in from the NCR region, Chennai, Pune and Ahmedabad. With a combination of factors like Ignition Grant, infrastructure, manufacturing policy and streamlined regulatory system along with the right skill-sets could catapult the growth of the sector, said Dr Dash.
The theme of the event was devised keeping in mind the emergence of a new era where challenges of spiralling healthcare costs and food prices need to be addressed. “India having entrenched itself as a major hub for innovation and collaboration is now emerging as a bio-economy. This is where the country needs businesses that will drive the economy. Investing in innovation only can build a sustainable future,” said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, government of Karnataka and CMD, Biocon Ltd.
While the event has been portraying a rich tapestry of the varied aspects in biotechnology, there would be an additional interest for bioinformatics, biostatistics and pharmacoeconomics at the 2012 show as these are future areas of growth which will drive the biotech industry, she added.
Over the years, there has been an increase in participation. This year, there would be a large delegation from the US led by US India Business Council (USIBC) which is the international partner. The organizers are also scouting for entries from South Africa, Dubai, Israel and the SAARC countries which are huge potential markets for Indian biotech products.
According to Shaw, India needs to highlight its robust regulatory frameworks and ethics guidelines to communicate with many international companies about the stringent standards adhered to by the industry here.
The key strengths of Indian biotech which generated revenues to the tune of Rs.20,000 crore ($5 billion) in 2010-2011 are vaccines, diagnostics, drug delivery devices, biosimilars and bio fuels. The Bangalore Bio India 2012 theme ‘India- the emerging Bio Economy’ would attract start-ups and innovator companies because it is the future of Indian biotech industry, said Shaw.
According to M N Vidyashankar, secretary, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, "The flagship biotech event, Bangalore India Bio, has effectively positioned Karnataka on the global map. We are now in the 11th year of the event and the success ratio of the event is on the rise year-after-year. The state government's vision to encourage this sector has effectively efficiently poised to take advantage of global opportunities.”
Over the last decade, the Bangalore India Bio is viewed as a key platform to connect with global and domestic life sciences industries, scientific community, policy-makers and regulators and several Indian biotech states. The multi- track conference, international trade show, BioPartnering India, Vision Leadership Series, CEO Conclave, Poster Session, Bio Quiz,
Bio Excellence Awards and the Industry Trail will be the main components of the event.
Karnataka is home to 60 per cent of the country’s biotech units, The number of units has increased to 187 with revenues of around Rs. 4,000 crore which is a 10-fold increase since the inception of the event in 2001.
The state unveiled the Bio Education report on Karnataka along with the Millennium Biotech Policy in 2001 which underwent a revision in July 2009. It also set up the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) in 2001 and the inaugurated the Bangalore Helix in February 2009 and in July 2011, announced the construction of the second phase of Bangalore Helix Biotech Park, christened as Alexandria Knowledge Park, is expected to be completed by 2013.
Currently, the Bangalore Helix houses not just IBAB but the Centre for Human Genetics and the Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS).
Biocon Park is a biotech Special Economic Zone spread over 100 acres with a total investment of over 1,200 crore, located at the Bommasandra Industrial Area in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Further the state government has also proposed biotech parks across Tier I and Tier cities. These are the Nutraceutical and Phyto Pharma (medicinal plants ) Park at Mysore. The park would house research and development centre for nutrition and phyto pharma products. An incubation centre and a private cluster are proposed to commence operation within the campus of the Centre for Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore would be shifted to a 100 acre park close to Mysore. A marine biotech park is being set up at Mangalore to develop R&D, DNA sequencing, upscale technology, processing waste utilization. Vivarium (Animal House) at Bidar on 20 acres will be built to conduct R&D in disease diagnosis, vaccine production, embryo transfer, bioinformatics and stem cell techniques. Agri-Biotech Park will be built at Dharwad on 30 acres to carry out agri research, development, gene constructs, pest management, anti phyto pathogenic genes.
Karnataka government had made a slew of announcements at the last year’s event . These included a Rs.67. 5 crore fund assistance for the development of the sector, Out of this an amount of Rs.45 crore ($10 million) is allocated to promote projects in the area of high technology which cover stem cells and regenerative and genetics. The remaining Rs.22.5 crore ($5 million) is for companies to help support technology transfers and commercialize research projects.
For scores of biotech graduates and engineers passing out from the state, the government also sanctioned 12 BT finishing schools with Rs.1 crore funding to start the training from 2011. These finishing schools include Bangalore’s PESIT, Dayananda Sagar College, Maharani Ammani College for Women, Oxford College, Mysore JSS, Mangalore’s Aloysius College, Tumkur’s Siddaganga institute, Sirsi’s MM Arts and Science College to name a few.
Bangalore Bio India is now recognized as the gateway to India for biotechnology investments and partnerships. Tremendous interest is evinced by leading bio-nations like US, Canada, European Union, South Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Sessions like bio-partnering, multi-track conference, and the international trade show offer an excellent opportunity to showcase core strengths to explore opportunities, said the organizers.