Biotechnology in India: Moving Towards A USD $ 100 Billion Indian Bio-Economy

The last 5 years have seen a surge in the growing biotech innovation ecosystem. The potential of biotechnology to impact economic growth has been well recognised. From the strong foundational base of cutting-edge science to the well-established translational ecosystem, the critical components of the growing biotechnology sector have been strengthened and the vibrant ecosystem has connected the students and young researchers from the public sector, academia and the private sector.

Biotechnology today holds enormous potential for impacting the economic growth of the country. Globally there has been a major push towards encouraging the growth of the Start-up and entrepreneurial ecosystem to contribute to the biotech industry. India, over the last couple of years has contributed significantly to this sector and the potential of biotechnology, specifically the ability of innovators to develop affordable and accessible products addressing the needs of the society has been well recognized.

Established in 2012 with the vision to ‘stimulate, foster and enhance the strategic research and innovation capabilities of the Indian biotech industry, particularly start-ups and SMEs, for creation of affordable products addressing the needs of the largest section of the society’, the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector company of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India is playing a transformative and catalytic role in building a USD $ 100 billion Indian bio economy.

BIRAC with its key strategies to foster innovation and entrepreneurship has emerged as key enabler for entrepreneurs looking to make an impact through innovative solutions. BIRAC over the years has worked as a core ‘development agency’ with a focus on the entire product development chain. The emphasis is not only on providing funding but also handholding to help entrepreneurs grow and take their ideas forward to the product development stage. The enabling ecosystem allows the young innovators to take the plunge into high risk and high reward innovation research for meeting societal needs.

BIRAC has created a vibrant start-up ecosystem, facilitated a very strong industry academia linkage
and connected the ecosystem both nationally and internationally through enabling polices. Today, we
have across the country witnessed a growing demand for new innovations and a sense of excitement amongst the innovator community to deliver beyond expectations.

With over 1000 startups and entrepreneurs and more than 500 small companies and industries being a part of this network, it is encouraging to see that today there are more than 130 products and technologies which have been successfully developed. Our 40 bio incubators play a very important role in the growth of the ecosystem, providing the start-ups the required technical, business, financial and regulatory mentorship.

Innovation is key to the economic growth of any country and we need to constantly innovate to keep up with the societal needs and aspirations. BIRAC has supported innovations which address the complex societal challenges in the health care, agriculture, environment, energy and are focused on improving the lives of millions of our country. BIRAC innovations are directly aligned with the Government missions on Swacch Bharat, Ayushman Bharat, Startup India and Make in India, and along with DBT there has been a major effort of converting the research in the laboratory to products and technologies through the establishment of a strong effective translational ecosystem. BIRAC’s main thrust is on human resource and capacity building, Access to resources for the start-ups, industry-academia partnerships and access to investor networks and markets.

All components of the ecosystem from mentorship to capacity building to financing and product commercialisation are being supported by BIRAC. This has now resulted not only in an excellent pipeline of startups but also in several successful enterprises which have made an impact both in the domestic and global arena. Many startups have been able to attract investments which are crucial and critical for sustainability and scalability of the enterprise.

BIRAC has also been a key contributor to developing international strategic alliances for the growth of the Indian bio-economy. BIRAC’s partnership with NESTA, UK aimed at supporting the Discovery Awards Programme for innovators working for innovative diagnostics for anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is an example of a successful international alliance. In collaboration with DBT and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Grand Challenges India (GCI) has supported successful innovations in the fields of maternal and child health, agriculture, nutrition, sanitation and communicable diseases. International partnerships with Wellcome trust, USAID, Vinnova, Business Finland and many other strategic partners helps BIRAC leverage the strength of partnerships to take forward its mission of nurturing the innovation ecosystem.

BIRAC’s work and impact has not been limited to just fostering collaborations but also leading and implementing programmes and initiatives across the nation. BIRAC has successfully spearheaded the implementation of ‘Innovate in India’, an industry-academia collaborative National Biopharma Mission undertaken by DBT and World Bank with the objective of accelerating discovery research and developing capabilities in the field of biopharmaceuticals, with a special focus on the development of new vaccines, bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices to address the rising burden of diseases in the country.

The underlying objective is primarily developing affordable and accessible innovative products to meet societal needs.These innovations today are technologically empowering the country and we are confident that as we move on, India which has already taken on a very strong leadership position will be a front runner in innovation and will meet global benchmarks.

BIRAC will continue to play a transformational role in nurturing the ecosystem for empowering the nation to achieve the target of a USD $100 billion biotech industry by 2025.

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Source: ET

Image Courtesy: India Education

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