In a bid to create a globally competitive biopharmaceutical
industry that addresses the country’s major concerns around barriers to
affordable healthcare, innovate in India (i3)
program was launched, by the Union Minister for Science &Technology, Earth
Sciences, Environment, Forest & Climate Change Dr. Harsh Vardhan, on 30th
June 2017 in New Delhi.
The 250 million USD program of the Department of Biotechnology
(DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, 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 GOI in collaboration with World Bank, will be implemented by Biotechnology
Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Enterprise, set
up by DBT.
The Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated “This Mission is anticipated
to be a game changer for the Indian Bio-pharmaceutical industry. It aspires to
create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous
manufacturing in the sector”. 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.
Expanding
on the scope of the program Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of
Biotechnology & Chairman BIRAC shared, that “This endeavor will help
nurture next- generation technical skills; promote entrepreneurship; and
support institutions in adoption of global innovations, technologies, and
licensing models. 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”.
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 program thereby stands
unique in its approach as it becomes a cradle to innovate, co-create and
co-facilitate scientific discoveries and offers young entrepreneurs an avenue
to engage with the best in the industry.
Speaking at the
occasion, Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser DBT & MD, BIRAC shared, “We
undertook an extensive landscaping study to identify critical gaps impeding growth and
innovation in the Biopharma sector. Taking cognizance of these gaps, i3
is focussed on targeted measures to develop platform technologies for product
validation, link disparate institutions to strengthen clinical trial networks,
promote partial de-risking for novel products, and build capacities in
emerging areas such as translational bioinformatics, bioethics etc.”With an aim to
provide a level playing field for new entrants, the program would open calls
for research proposals beginning August and roll-out in October this year.
The Mission was launched in the presence of Dr. K. VijayRaghavan,
Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World
Bank India; dignitaries from the concerned Ministries: Dr. Soumya Swaminathan,
DG- ICMR; Dr. J.P Prakash; Secretary Department of Pharmaceuticals, Dr. GN
Singh DCGI and DBT officials.
The program launch occasion
was also graced by the presence of eminent scientists from academia and
representatives from the Indian industry. It promises to boost the growth curve
for domestic biopharma in India by accelerating the translation of research
concepts into viable products, enabling
sustainable networks for collaboration between industry and academia, and
supporting entrepreneurial ecosystem amongst many others.
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