Pakistan is looking towards India for possible tie-ups in the biotech sector for developing vaccines and diagnostics to meet the needs of the country. Pakistan has been making efforts to link the industry and academia within the country and is encouraging investors to actively seek opportunities in biotech sector, Dr Anwar Nasim, adviser-science, COMSTECH Secretariat and chairman of National Commission of Biotechnology of Pakistan, Islamabad told Pharmabiz.

Dr Nasim said that Pakistan is strong in agricultural biotechnology and wants to make progress in using biotechnology in the pharma industry. The country has identified national priorities in the area of biotechnology and for that a human resource management policy has been developed. As part of this initiative, some candidates are being sent worldwide to update themselves on emerging technologies and developments in the frontiers of biotechnology. The needs, situations and environment of Pakistan are similar to that of any developing country in the world, he opined.

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has set up a committee of Ministers of Science and Technology representing 57 Islamic countries to address the need of development of science and technology in all spheres. The committee known as OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) meets once in two years at Islamabad. The COMSTECH is headed by the president of Pakistan, he added.

Dr Nasim explained that Pakistan has been witnessing a greater incidence of hepatitis B and tuberculosis. Combating hepatitis B has been kept as one of the objectives of the National Commission of Biotechnology of Pakistan. Though there are many pharma companies (mostly located in Karachi and Lahore), bio-pharma companies are very few in the country. In the last three years, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Pakistan has laid a lot of emphasis on biotechnology and is taking initiatives to develop the industry.

It is significant to note in this context that AMSON Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals of Pakistan has signed a MoU with Biological Evans of Hyderabad to produce anti-snake venom serum and other vaccines in Pakistan, whereas National Vaccine Development and Production Task Force, Government of Pakistan, has signed a MoU with Transgene Biotek of Hyderabad for technology transfer, recombinant and therapeutic proteins for biotech companies in Pakistan, at Bio Asia 2004, held at Hyderabad.