The much-awaited 2008 version of Bangalore Bio is about to hit the Garden City of India, which has of late come to be known as the Silicon Valley of India. Regarded as the biggest biotech event held annually in India, Bangalore Bio is expected to add another feather in the cap of this metropolitan city by turning it into another Genome Valley of India. Bangalore's growing reputation as a leader in biotechnology and an international business destination, speak volumes for its chances of becoming a biotech hub of India and its suitability to host an event for biotech players across the world to chart new growth strategies and discuss and share new developments in the field.
Organised by the Vision Group on Biotechnology, this year Bangalore Bio would be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre from April 24 to 26, 2008. Into its eighth year, the event is also promoted by the Government of Karnataka. This year, Bangalore Bio would be held with the theme of 'Global Partnership' and is expected to bring together national and international participants from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, educational and financial sectors to interact, network and showcase innovations in products and services to transform concepts into markets, explore investments and business opportunities through its trade show, technical sessions, international conference, business forum,
CEO conclave, poster session and the newly added bio partnering platform.
"In today's dynamic business environment, the biotechnology industry recognises the importance of international partnerships. Partnerships would enable an organisation to compete, grow and create value in record time on a global scale. Hence, Bangalore Bio 2008 has introduced bio partnering platform. Besides, the event will bring together the stakeholders of the industry to drive growth, develop innovative pipelines, enter deals for commercialisation efforts, overcome capital constraints and capitalise on core strengths for achieving global competitiveness," said the organisers.
"After becoming an information technology hub, India is now shifting its focus to the most promising industry of the future, biotechnology. It is innovation and new technology that will drive the future of biotechnology in India. There is lot of research and innovation done by small and mid cap companies in India and Bangalore bio 2008 promises to provide a platform for the emerging technologies and companies to showcase their research to the world and explore global tie ups," they added.
Referring to the growing need for partnerships between Indian and foreign biotech companies, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, head, Vision Group on Biotechnology and chairman and managing director of Biocon Ltd, said, "To meet the ever growing demand of biotech sector, we have been building a knowledgeable and highly skilled workforce.
The eagerness of young generation to get into this sector has enthused the industry to strive for more. Cost of innovation and commercialisation is a challenge worldwide and India certainly has an advantage on this aspect. If we have to move forward, we have to foster partnerships globally. Global partnerships would enable the industry to take its biggest leap in terms of innovation, marketing strategies and funding growth."
With focus on innovation, the main conference session at Bangalore Bio 2008 will attract some of the leading scientists and industry stalwarts from across the globe, who would address frontier research and technologies, partnering and various other contemporary issues. Besides, technical papers section would be introduced this year to encourage and showcase tremendous research and development activities happening across academic, R&D institutes and emerging biotech companies.
"There is a need for industry-academia collaboration. To make this happen, Bio 2008 will have two special sessions - Gateway to Europe and Indo-US corridor," noted, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
The key conference topics at Bangalore Bio 2008 include bio partnering - the path from sustainability to profitability, key to successful partnerships - sharing success stories, bioinformatics - tool for research success and performance and IP protection and regulatory environment.
One of the main attractions of the event would be the exclusive build-your-business forum, an ideal platform to explore business opportunities, collaborations, investment, marketing, trade and research process outsourcing. Last year over 500 one-to-one business meetings were facilitated during the trade show. This year, Australia is expected to play an important role in Bio 2008, as a huge number of delegates are expected from the country.
For the third time in row, April 26 has been dedicated as agri biotech day at Bangalore Bio 2008 to showcase India's experience and progress in agri biotechnology. The day will focus on the current issues and emerging trends in agri biotechnology. Some of the key focus areas would be bio fertilisers and bio insecticides, bio energy and bio fuels, GM crops and their role in developing countries and policy, regulations and legal issues in agri biotechnology.
The CEO conclave will witnesses a high power meeting of various professionals with key industry stalwart delivering the 'vision talk' at the conclave.
This year too, Bangalore Bio will host the poster session in conjunction with the international conference. The objective is to create an exclusive opportunity for young researchers, scientists and technocrats working in Universities, R&D labs, various government departments or private sector to share their innovations and research projects, in the areas of biotechnology, agriculture, environment and health care and interact with industry top honchos and Indian and global venture capitalists. Posters will be selected based on originality, innovative approach, new ideas, commercial potential etc.
Besides, industry visits are being organised for the interested delegates on first-come first serve basis. The delegates will be taken to two core sectors of biotechnology - bio pharma and agri bio. The industry visit would include company presentation, management (general and specific techniques), innovation, business processes, good manufacturing practices and health and safety.