Canada’s Centre for Commercialisation of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB) has now set its eyes on India to maximise the advantage of biological expertise, innovation acumen and manufacturing capability. The Centre has over 1,000 antibodies and views India as the hub for manufacturing these drugs for the rest of the world.

To begin with, it has partnered with Zydus Cadila to manufacture antibody-based cancer treatments. It is now in discussion for a couple of more partners for not only oncology but also antibody based infectious disease treatments including dengue.

"We are impressed by India's pharmaceutical industry’s manufacturing capability," said Dr Sidhu CEO, CCAB.

Another major initiative is the setting up of a Centre of Excellence for Antibodies and Biologicals in the country. This is not a one or two deal mission instead a multi-billion dollar bilateral agreement where Canada is a distinct leader. This Centre will focus on commercialisation, research and capacity building, Harjeet Bajaj CEO, Canada International Trade Services Inc, business development partners, CCAB told Pharmabiz.

Cities such as Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru are attractive with access to talent pool, he added.

Indian lifesciences sector is recognised for its ability to produce a variety of formulations and biosimilars. The industry is also showing a keen interest in production of novel biologics and India cannot be ignored, said Dr Sidhu.

“We decided to enter India following interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 3-day visit to Canada recently on the 'Make in India' strategy. There is both conviction and confidence in India’s capability and we are motivated to establish an ongoing presence here," said Bajaj who was in Bengaluru for the 2nd business partnership/collaboration opportunity with CCAB, Canada Product Development & Commercialisation of Biotechnology based Antibodies in India for an interaction with the bio-pharma industry here.

"The deal with Zydus was signed a week ago and this took place after the first business partnership opportunity with CCAB, Canada Product Development & Commercialisation of Biotechnology based Antibodies that was held earlier this year. The facility of the Gujarat based Zydus is world class and we opted for an Indian manufacture because of the production capacity and the manufacturing know-how,” said Bajaj.

In fact after both these business events with the bio-pharma companies in the country have made us optimistic that commercialisation of our antibodies can take place in India. Karnataka and specially Bengaluru has a conducive lifesciences cluster. The presence of not just large companies but start-ups and research centres have impressed us, noted Dr Sidhu.

The Centre of Excellence which is being planned, would be national centre. Its fivefold objective would be firstly on commercialisation, secondly on research where academia and industry partnerships are envisaged, thirdly, on investment and funding assistance, fourthly, on capacity building and fifthly on student-faculty exchange programmes between India and Canada. The intent is to encourage early stage commercialisation of antibodies from CCAB, realise economies-of scale and help indigenize drug development, said Dr. Sidhu.