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DBT launches 'Innovate in India' programme to transform India into global hub for cutting-edge R&D centre for biotech
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
July 07 , 2017
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In a bid to create a globally competitive biopharmaceutical industry
that addresses the country’s major concerns around barriers to
affordable healthcare, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has
launched 'Innovate in India (i3)' programme which is expected to provide
young entrepreneurs the confidence as well as the systemic support to
pursue their aspirations in biotechnological innovation, and transform
India into a global hub for cutting-edge biotechnology research and
development. This industry-academia collaborative mission is anticipated
to be a game changer for the Indian biopharmaceutical industry.
An
industry-academia collaborative mission for accelerating discovery
research to early development for biopharmaceuticals, this 250 million
US dollar program of the DBT is a first-of-its-kind mission that brings
together industry and academia to promote entrepreneurship and
indigenous manufacturing in the biopharmaceutical sector. This flagship
program of the DBT, in collaboration with World Bank, will be
implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council
(BIRAC) of the DBT.
The programme will specifically focus on the
development of new vaccines, bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and medical
devices to better address the rising burden of diseases in the country.
It will also bring isolated centres of excellence together, enhance
regional capabilities and strengthen the current bio-clusters network in
terms of capacities as well as quantity and quality of output. The
programme will help deliver 6-10 new products in the next five years,
create several dedicated facilities for next-generation skills, and
hundreds of jobs in the process. It will provide young entrepreneurs the
confidence as well as the systemic support to pursue their aspirations
in biotechnological innovation, and transform India into a global hub
for cutting-edge biotechnology research and development.
As a
flagship programme of the Government of India in collaboration with
World Bank, it promises to boost the growth curve for domestic biopharma
in India by accelerating the translation of research concepts into
viable products, supporting clinical validation, enabling sustainable
networks for collaboration between industry and academia, and supporting
entrepreneurial ecosystem amongst many others. Currently India has only
2.8% share in the global biopharmaceutical market, the program would
elevate this to 5% resulting in an additional business opportunity of 16
billion USD.
The programme aspires to create an enabling
ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in
the sector. It will help nurture next-generation technical skills;
promote entrepreneurship; and support institutions in adoption of global
innovations, technologies, and licensing models.
The oversight
to the program would be provided by the Inter-Ministerial Steering
Committee comprising of members from various Ministries; and would be
supported by Program Technical Advisory Group comprising of global and
national leaders from industry and academia. The programme thereby
stands unique in its approach with involvement of global experts,
industry leaders and World Bank in driving it and ensuring world class
biomedical products are born out of the initiative.
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