Union government has allocated Rs 1,800 crore for innovation in R&D for the biotechnology sector. This works out to 30 per cent of the Rs 6,000 crore that it had allotted for the Indian biotechnology sector.

Currently, new drug development is on the top of the agenda in the pharma-biotech innovation value chain. This is where the Department of Biotechnology is now committed to support research & development in private sector through its two initiatives: Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Programme (BIRAP) which is a pilot programme between the DBT, ABLE and BCIL which will manage specific Industry related schemes of the DBT.

The BIRAP, programme will eventually morph into the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) a non-profit company built upon this pilot programme.

India has a huge R&D and development cost competitive advantage that is available to be leveraged for innovating new drugs to meet this emerging opportunity, stated Shrikumar Suryanarayan, director general Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs.

"India is growing to be among the top 10 markets in the world by 2015. There is an innovation opportunity to develop drugs for acute treatment of neglected diseases that afflict large segment of the population. Rising incomes and changing lifestyles will increase the need for innovative chronic treatments. Regulatory and safety standards will be comparable to the best in the world. This will call for more R&D efforts and costs during development," he added.

However, new drug development efforts in the Indian context has not take off as expected. This is because of the prevalence of a strong risk averse culture. There is financial conservatism to invest in new drug development. The country is also not known to reward pharma innovation.

So, long as Indian pharma industry has been known to manufacture only identical products. This is because of a lack of senior management who could understand, explain and innovatively manage risk. They were not able to convince the financial institutions and the regulatory sector about the innovations that had promising prospects. This led to a decreased importance for innovation, explained the ABLE DG.

As of 2005, with the Patent regime in force, the scope to copy drugs is restricted. Therefore, companies have to seriously look for innovative drug research for their survival.

At present pipeline is drying up and companies are incurring huge losses. High cost of discovery of drugs makes the pharma-biotech already late in the innovation pathway. Therefore companies here will need to hasten its innovative methods to deliver efficient healthcare to the majority. It is here the opportunity to develop drugs for acute treatment of neglected diseases and lifestyle disorders exist. But India must realize that it has a huge R&D and development cost competitive advantage which is now available to be leveraged for innovating new drugs to meet this emerging opportunity.

There are several opportunities in the area of biotechnology research and product development and with support from DBT and its BIRAP, a primary management vehicle, the industry related schemes will now be managed for DBT. BIRAP will not only provide strategic information but it will facilitate intellectual property (IP), support capacity building and provide access to license and acquire technology for the industry among others. Industry should go all out and make the best of the offering, added Suryanarayan.