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Indian biotech booms at Bangalore Bio
The three pronged strategy of innovate, educate and partner
echoed at Bangalore Bio 2008. Arshiya Khan reports
Professor Sidney Altman, Nobel Laureate and Sterling Professor of Molecular,
Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, at the inauguration
of Bangalore Bio 2008, held on 24 April 2008 |
Dr M K Bhan, Secretary, Government of India, Department of Biotechnology,
addresses the audience at the event |
The communion of biotech leaders |
The Express Pharma team in action at Bangalore Bio 2008 |
"It is time to rub out all the boundaries and silos that
we have created and build partnerships across borders," exhorted Dr Kiran
Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson, Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology and CMD,
Biocon. She was speaking at the eighth annual Bangalore Bio conference held
at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, from 24-26 April. The theme of
the event was 'Global Partnering'. The fact that Merck (USA) was the global
partner to the event was an endorsement of the fact that India is very much
on the list of preferred partners being 'courted' by global majors. The conference
plenary sessions highlighted the importance of such partnerships, criteria for
choosing the right partner and building up on the same. Collaborations between
Merck and Nicholas Piramal India Limited (NPIL), DNDi and Advinus Therapeutics
were examples that stood out. The second day's sessions dealt with the ways
and means to protect and profit from the intellectual property (IP) generated
from such global partnerships.
The sessions revolved around the three pronged strategy of
'Innovate, educate and partner'. Stressing on education, Proffesor Sidney Altman,
Nobel Laureate and Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental
Biology, Yale University, USA, said that institutions and companies should also
focus more on contributing to educational institutes and non-profit organisations,
which are responsible for generating 80-90 percent of new ideas that are worth
commercialisation. "About 90 percent of ideas that eventually become patents
in the hands of companies are generated in academic institutions," he added.
Coming soon …a biotech blockbuster
A solution to the 'Innovation Deficiency Syndrome' that has
been plaguing the pharma industry can be sorted out if (rather when) biotech
yields a blockbuster molecule. Innovation is omnipresent, so it can quite possibly
be a biotech innovation. "Therefore, it is important for India to embrace
innovation to deliver objectives," opined Shaw. India should focus on affordability
and accessibility, and the fact that India is cost-effective, will work in India's
favour. The generics and biosimilars that India has an advantage on will also
be a helping hand. "We need to focus on the problem of affordability and
accessibility, and this is exactly where partnerships will come into play,"
remarked Shaw.
This year's event had a large number of French companies
participating and spelling out the reason for this, H E Jerome Bonnafont, Ambassador
of France in India, said, "The dynamism of this sector is amazing and most
promising in the developing worlds. And we are here to better the partnerships
between India and France."
Indian culture
India has always proved to be a successful partner and lived
up to the expectations of its allies. Throwing light on this, Dr M K Bhan, Secretary,
Government of India, Department of Biotechnology, said, "It is deeply ingrained
in the Indian culture to deliver on partnerships." Elaborating further,
he said that there are tremendous social challenges that exist and biotech is
the immediate potential solution to all of them. Bhan also highlighted the concern
of laying the foundation of education for training people, measures to strengthen
partnering and building strong partnerships. In order to solve these issues
partnerships are important. "It's not only for profit, but also learning
through experience of the partner," he said. Striking the same cord, Dr
Villoo Morawala Patell, Founder, Chairperson and Managing Director, Avesthagen
said, "Indians have the ability to create companies cost effectively and
that is India's core competency." So it is quite inevitable that partnerships
are indispensable for survival as well as to be more competitive. Signing off,
Sudhakar Rao, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, pointed out, "Biotech
sector has achieved 35 percent growth in the past few years. Karnataka became
a preferred location for foreign investments." And in the next three four
years biotech would provide a lead to other sectors on how to work together,
predicted Bhan.
 After
completing 14 successful years, Express Pharma has now launched Express
Biotech. We had always covered the biotech sector, but since our readers
wanted us to have a sharper focus on biotech, we thought biotech has grown
big enough to have its own space hence a bi-monthly supplement Express Biotech.
And what better place to showcase the inaugural
issue than Bangalore Bio—India's biggest biotech show. Audience response
was very encouraging. Through the three different sections—Market,
Management and Technology—we aim to cover every facet of the biotech
industry. Look forward to more in our next supplement, due in June 16.
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arshiya.khan@expressindia.com
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