The country's first biotech incubation centre (BTIC), initiated by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Industries and Commerce and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and executed by the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) with an investment of over Rs 20 crore, has picked up pace and is expected to be fully operational by March 2007. The incubation centre is coming up at Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park in Hyderabad.

Talking to Pharmabiz, Dr M Ramakrishna, project-coordinator (BTIC) and head-Chemical Engineering Process Development (IICT) said, the incubation centre aims at setting up pilot plant facilities to test biotech processes and develop them at bench-scale / pilot scale level in addition to establishing technology. The processes could be based on mammalian cell culture or on microbial basis (rDNA and / or non-recombinant). IICT is executing the project keeping in mind the requirements of the industry in the coming five years.

The incubator will provide lab facilities to scientists / entrepreneurs along with common facilities. About 12 labs are being planned to be set up in the incubation centre. The aim is to enable scientists create potential ideas with minimum investments. Micro-level planning has already been done. By May 2005, orders for process equipment will be placed and will be procured in another six months from then, he added.

The lab facilities will be ready by February / March 2006 and the scientists / entrepreneurs can use the space and equipments from that period. Pilot plant facilities will be physically ready by July 2006 and for another nine months from then, IICT will evaluate the efficiency of pilot plant facilities and will procure additional equipment if found necessary. The pilot plant scale-ups will be such a way that three processes can be tested at any given time, Dr Ramakrishna informed.

Scientists interested in carrying out research in the incubator may be provided linkage with venture capital funding companies, negotiations with prospective venture capitalists is on. An advisory board to guide occupants on patenting and financing options is already planned.

This project, based on self-sustained model, is to attract talented scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, from across the country. Start-up and established players can make equal use of the facilities at the incubator for upgradation and modification of their existing technologies in addition to developing new technologies, he opined.

It may be noted that DBT has formally sanctioned the proposal to set up BTIC in March 2004. DBT is supporting with funds to procure necessary equipments and to meet operating expenses and the AP Government is providing infrastructure support in the form of land, building and service utilities worth Rs 7.5 crore. The IICT and other CSIR laboratories will be providing technical support to scientists at all stages, on charge-basis.

He added, depending on the prospects of the incubator, DBT is open for further expansion of the incubator.

Countries like Germany, USA, South Africa have established biotech incubators successfully and in Asia, Singapore has already made strides in this direction. In Singapore, which is the only Asian country having a biotech incubator, entrepreneurs have to bring with them equipments and the incubator will mostly provide research / knowledge support. But the incubator being developed in Hyderabad is on the lines of the US, Germany and South Africa, where the incubation centre provides not only knowledge support but also the necessary equipments to test and develop processes. Burden of cost is more on the entrepreneurs in the former case, as they have to procure equipments on their own.