A three-day international conference on biotechnology, "Biotech Invest 2003 - global meet on strategic alliances and business opportunities," will be held in Hyderabad from January 31 to February 2, 2003. Organised jointly by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FAPCCI) and the All-India Biotech Association, Southern Chapter, the conference will focus on investment opportunities in biotechnology, including entrepreneurship, financial options, venture capital, critical issues in product / process development, contract research and clinical trial opportunities, role of bioinformatics in drug development, policies and legislation in biotechnology and IPR issues.

Dr B S Bajaj, chairman of AIBA, southern chapter and chairman of the conference, and M K Jha, Dy Secretary, FAPCCI, told Pharmabiz.com that the conference would be organized in two parts - the international conference on investment opportunities in biotechnology in the forenoon and the international interactive meet for alliances in biotechnology in the afternoon, each day.

The conference would give industrialists and scientific professionals an ideal platform to meet face-to-face, identify opportunities and exchange on the wealth of exciting new areas in the biotech sector. The focus area of collaboration will cover the following segments of biotechnology: Recombinant DNA products, including enzymes, vaccines, hormones, blood products, anti-microbials etc, therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies and diagnostics, conventional biologicals, gene therapy, stem cells technology and cell therapy, bioinformatics - molecular modelling & drug design, proteomics and genomics and so on.

Dr Bajaj said unlike other conferences, this one would be with a difference. The primary format of the interactive meet is one-to-one sessions between providers and seekers. Applications are invited from providers of intellectual property, technology, products and services and seekers of the same for pre-qualifying them for participation in the meet. The list of providers would be drawn up by December 31 and circulated to all those interested collaborators. The seekers and providers could then specify the individuals / entities they wish to interact with at the meet. The organizers would draw up a schedule for one-to-one interactive session and the participants would be informed of the schedule of the interactive meeting by January 15, 2003.

About 25 companies from different countries like the US, Australia and Korea besides India, have expressed their interest in the interactive meet. A delegation consisting of 10-15 biotech companies from Australia was expected to participate in the conference primarily to enter into collaboration. These companies are in the fields of lipid-based anti-cancer patented drugs, stem cells, vitamin D analogs for drug discovery, bioinformatics, application of biotechnology research for humanitarian purposes and other human / animal health segments. Till now 18 eminent speakers from the US, UK, Italy, Japan and India have confirmed their participation. The Government of AP is the principal sponsor with Ernst & Young as the sponsor of the event.