Translational research is a major challenge in the realm of drug designing and its ability to resurrect dying products is a crucial area for study, stated experts at a two-hour interdisciplinary session in Bangalore Bio 2006.

Highlighting India's potential contribution in the drug discovery space, Dr. John Watson, director Pharma -Biotech, Promega Corporation, stated that chemical genomics, movement from genetics to drug discovery R&D, hunting for transitional opportunities and partnering with Western companies is the next best step for emerging Indian bio tech fraternity.

Dr Gustaaf Van Reet, board member and scientific advisor - Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Belgium and Vizipar Bioscinces Pvt. Ltd. observed that despite the dramatic reduction in the mortality rate over the past few decades and the coexistence of a plethora of needs and an equal number of opportunities, successful endeavours are still a rarity owing to the current knowledge gaps, technical gaps, reliability, liability, cost and affordability issues. He also suggested prognosis and prevention and individually targeted therapies as the emerging trends and strategies for the future.

Stating the mammoth scope of the biomedicine space, Dr D K Srivastava , Professor, Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, North Dakota State University, USA, that there are opportunities a galore for all young researchers in the space of identification of enzymes as potential drug targets. He also added that currently there are 14,000 proteins and 75 enzymes identifies as potential drug targets.