The Government of Andhra Pradesh has set up a committee headed by R A Mashelkar, Director-General of CSIR, to prepare a report on the proposed Indian Institute of Life Sciences in Hyderabad. The committee will submit its report in February, according to Industries Secretary B P Acharya.

Dr K Anji Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy's Labs, who would be the key advisor to the start-up project, had committed Rs 10 crore to set up the Institute.
Novartis and some other pharmaceutical companies would also become part of this project. The government has already launched a head-hunt for a Director for the Institute.

Acharya said the idea was to make it a world-class Institute that would help research in the pharma industry leading to development of new drugs. He said Andhra Bank would be contributing Rs 10 crore towards the Venture Capital Fund of the AP Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC) to give a fillip to the venture capital funding in the biotechnology sector.

The state government had decided to allot 100 acres of land to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) at Thorkapally in Shameerpet, adjacent to the Biotech Park, to set up a Primate Research Centre. According to Acharya, ICMR would be investing Rs 100 crore for the center, which would help units in the Biotech Park to conduct their tests on primates, thereby reducing their research costs.

The government has cleared the second phase of the Biotech Park, which is being developed by the Mumbai-based construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. According to Acharya, the second phase will cover 162 acres. He said the first phase of the Biotech Park spread over 200 acres had been fully occupied.