Department of Biotechnology (DBT) supported BIPP (Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme) has gained immense popularity and has become a much-sought-after project because the custody of the Intellectual Property (IP) will continue to remain with the companies and not shared with the funding agency. This is unlike the Small Business Innovation Research Initiative (SBIRI) Scheme which is also a DBT-driven assistance where the IP needs to be shared with the funding agency.

This key feature has helped BIPP to receive an overwhelming response from the large, medium and small companies. Although the details on the total number of applicants will be made available after the Full Grant Process on March 31, the BIPP has created significant interest, Shrikumar Suryanarayan, director general, Association of Biotechnology Entrepreneurs (ABLE) told Pharmabiz.

The screening of applications is nearing completion and by this time many decisions have been taken, he added.

BIPP has a fund allocation of Rs 350 crore from DBT. This financial assistance programme has been attempted for the first time on a massive scale by the government for the industry. The key difference between BIPP and SBIRI scheme is that in the case of BIPP the industry gets to keep the IP which has been a huge attraction to the fund. In the case of SBIRI, IP had to be shared. Many large industries who had invested considerably in bringing a project or product to a certain stage had sought funds from the DBT or a third party. They are reluctant to give up IP at a phase when certain amounts of investments were already made. This 'IP custody with industry' feature has been an important aspect of BIPP and ABLE had given considerable inputs for this.

The primary applicant for the scheme is the industry which can have a tie-up with the research institute. There are not many such innovative schemes like BIPP globally. The programme is all about encouraging companies to take risk. The decision on the applicant is made in the basis of a concrete idea which is not just viable but technically sound and where chances of a company to succeed are high. Therefore if an applicant's project has the right assumption, BIPP will assess its probability to thrive. So there are judgments involved and the decision on the feasibility of the project is the most tricky part, informed Suryanarayan.