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| International Conference |
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The Multi track Conference was addressed by Experts & Thought leaders representing the voice of industry, government and research with the Opening Address by Prof Samir K Brahmachari, the Director General of CSIR, Secretary of DSIR on India's Biotech Vision 2015. This was followed by the Keynote Address by Dr. Patrick Keohane, VP, R&D, AstraZeneca, Asia Pacific, USA and set the tone for animated discussions on key issues in Biotech over the next three days.
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“Affordable Innovation: India’s Rise As A Biotech Giant: The Astra Zeneca-Jubilant Case Study”
Drawing a large audience, the panel hosted by TVG and AstraZeneca explored the research collaboration between AstraZeneca and Jubilant Organosys Ltd. The collaboration is referred to as "JAZ". Panelists Dr. Sri Mosur, CEO & President of Jubilant, and Dr. Jit Patel, Director SPBD Neuroscience for AstraZeneca, spoke with Dr. Robert Lee Kilpatrick, Partner at TVG, about the collaboration model that AstraZeneca and Jubilant have been operating since being announced on May 5, 2009. The panel spoke on the who, what, how, and why of their research collaboration, with detailed analysis and invaluable insights on the risks and rewards experienced thus far. JAZ focuses on delivering novel drug candidates into AZ's pre-clinical pipeline. Under the shared risk-reward collaboration, which will initially focus on the neuroscience area, Jubilant aims to deliver a steady stream of discovery programs to AstraZeneca. Dr. Patel, Dr. Mosur and Dr. Kilpatrick all believe that India is fast becoming a biotech giant, and that more deals between Indian life science companies and big pharma will be formed. The JAZ deal illustrates the benefits of India as a center of "affordable innovation". |
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| The Plenary session on “Biopartnering India” In as session “Bio Nations” there were specific presentations and talks by countries from all over the world that wanted to work with India in the field of Biotechnology. They took this opportunity to highlight the positive points of their respective countries, and how the collaboration would benefit not only them, but also India. |
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| In a bid to bring the “Industry, Academia and the Investor” on the same platform, a half day session - “Making it Happen” was dedicated to encourage partnerships between these three. |
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| The session on “Regulatory Issues For Biopharma Industry” urged the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India to keep up with the rapid technological developments in the industry. |
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The session on “Bioprocess Engineering and Biomanufacturing” emphasized the use of innovative technologies and automation to be more competitive in the industry through embracing new technologies in innovations, impurity clearance in the manufacturing process, and analytical techniques.
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| An important session that has a direct relevance and impact on the common man was a discussion on “Future of Diagnostics” included - Pharmacogenomics, to know which medicine is good for a particular person. Tele-diagnostic, devices that can be fitted into human body. Lab on a chip, where by taking a small amount of blood, conditions of a patient can be diagnosed immediately. |
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| The session on “Medical Technology – Focused for Emerging Markets” stressed on how India is strong in Medical Devices but not in Health-care and emphasized that Government should support home grown innovations to compete globally |
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| The session on “Vaccines for emerging medical conditions, neglected diseases and pandemic preparedness” covered how vaccine is definitely the future of India. The negative fallout of Outbreak of diseases that affect tourism and trade. And Vaccine development and delivery and how they are impacted by economic, social and political issues. |
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| The session on “Successfully Negotiating the Biosimilars Landscape” deliberated on how An integrated biosimilars initiative requires several competencies working seamlessly across the value chain hence competencies required. Competitive advantages in biosimilars will hinge on quality, cost, timelines, regulated market access.” |
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| The session on“Drug Discovery and the Development of Innovative R&D,” optimistically addressed how “Innovation in pharmaceutical research is alive and well, which is one of the major factors to succeed. The new age concept is to build not only partnerships externally but also need versatility and flexibility to succeed in today's biotech industry. Today partnerships are the best way to foster innovation and help discovery of new drugs. |
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| As the traditional tools have limited accuracy and the processes are time consuming, opting for high throughput software technologies is the need of the hour for the biotech industry, according to the panelists on the second day of Bangalore India Bio 2010 in the session on “Software Solutions For Biotech”. |
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| In the session on “CRO’s in India – growth drivers and critical success factors” the speakers and delegates deliberated on the key drivers of Outsourcing. On the positive side recognizing the strengths of Indian Companies in drug development and also addressing the Factors affecting outsourcing, the concerns of the outsourcers. And thinking ahead creating some roadmap of what Indian CRO’s need to do. |
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| During the session on “Meeting the challenges and actualizing the potential in Clinical Trials” the panelists discussed about how India can attract more clinical trials. There is a decade of change- the environment is now very different due to rising cost in research and development, increasing regulatory, scrutiny and complexity the consumer confidence is low but there is hope if they are willing to change and make the fundamental changes.” |
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| Conference Sessions during Agribiotech Day |
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During the Panel Discussion on “New technologies for Food and Nutrition Security” the discussions addressed the serious problems faced in agriculture, the right Eco system in India to support technologies, and if not, what changes are being done to make farmers access new age technologies. Discussions also revolved around regulatory systems in India, its increasing uncertainty, issues regarding what Indian farmers believe and what they need. |
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During the session on “Climate Change and Agriculture” the focus was on how “Farmers need to adapt to the climate, that is changing and will change further. Before adaptation can be implemented at the farm level, farmers need to be educated on the need and modus of change. There is a requirement to remodel our agricultural extension strategy – training of trainers.” “Policy makers should become aware of the fact that there is a need for better formulated and targeted policies which in the long run will support the adaptation of agricultural innovations and will help to moderate the impacts of climate change.” he added. |
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The session on “Biomaterials and Chemicals” at the Bangalore INDIA BIO 2010, India's premier Biotechnology event, touched upon the latest innovations and products that are being developed across various companies in India. The innovations in biomaterials affect various industries like healthcare, nutrition, agriculture and energy. All these technologies are moving towards achieving more productivity and reducing the environmental stress.” |
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| The session on “Biofuels – feedstocks and products” covered the issues impacting success of the industry sector like the raw materials and technologies which must be sustainable to develop next generation biofuels. Distribution technology, usage technology and socio political issues are some of the challenges in producing biofuels.” Also discussed was new research taking place across various government and private labs across the country, addressing the issue of food or fuel and transforming the scenario into food and fuel. |
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