Novartis Launches Biome India, Its First Asian Digital Innovation Hub

Global Pharma major Novartis launched Biome India, which is a digital innovation hub, located in Hyderabad. This is the company’s first such centre in Asia and the fourth globally, where others are located in San Francisco, Paris and London.

The company has a huge presence in Hyderabad with its drug development and research facilities. Overall, India is a big hub for the company with around 8,000 employees, manufacturing facilities and business services.

The Biome India is expected to engage with start-ups and innovators who are passionate about the healthcare sector. This will help the external ecosystem, allowing the Novartis teams to better discover, develop and drive collaborations that will transform innovative initiatives into impactful and scalable solutions for patients.

The announcement was made by Mr Vasant (Vas) Narasimhan, the global CEO of Novartis, who received the Genome Valley Excellence Award at the ongoing BioAsia 2020 summit.

The latest Biome is linked to the four centres and Novartis global, which will enable it to tap into the assets and expertise of the broader Novartis portfolio to make a greater impact. Access to anonymised data, customised residency programmes and personalised mentoring will be available to the Biome.

“Together, we have a fantastic opportunity to combine our scientific know-how with the expertise of tech players, big and small, to create digital solutions for patients, at scale,” said Mr Bertrand Bodson, Chief Digital Officer, Novartis.

“We want to leverage this ecosystem to work with start-ups and innovators to disrupt healthcare in the country and perhaps the world,” said Mr Naveen Gullapalli, Head, Novartis Hyderabad.

Source: IBEF

Image Courtesy: BioSpace