Hyderabad: The third and final day of Bio Asia concluded in a grand manner with significant business meetings held between the various government and private entities. The action packed 3 days witnessed thought-provoking sessions by key industry leaders.
The 14th Edition of the BioAsia saw a participation of 1480 delegates from 51 countries in this three-day conference. Around 1200 trade, partnership, and deliberation meetings were conducted this year at BioAsia. The event saw insightful sessions from global industry leaders and academic stalwarts. The CEO Conclave on Serving Billion Patients India was held with eminent international and Indian experts from the global pharma powerhouses.
Mr K T Rama Rao, Minister of IT, Industries, MA & UD, NRI Affairs, Government of Telangana spent significant time in meeting the senior management of some of the largest global and domestic companies like Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Novartis, Glenmark, Wockhardt, Phillips, Deloitte, Government of Selangor (Malaysia), etc. during these 3 days at BioAsia 2017. During these meetings, the minister shared details of the existing strong ecosystem of the Telangana State. He shared government’s initiatives and vision to ensure cluster based development to complete the value chain for the Life Sciences sector which includes existing Biotech cluster – Genome Valley and upcoming Medtech Cluster – Medical Devices & Electronics park and Pharma Cluster – Hyderabad Pharma City. The synergies of Life Sciences and Information Technology sector, offered by Hyderabad adds up to the ecosystem. These officials have shown positive interest in giving preference to Hyderabad while looking for the expansion of their existing operations.
Novartis signed an MoU with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Hyderabad in building capabilities and skills. Mr. Glenn Saldanha, Chairman and Managing Director, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd., India was impressed with the infrastructure, environment and progressive approach of the Telangana State Government.
The last day of the event started with the key note session of Mr Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys. He said, “India has made tremendous strides in improving Health indicator in the last few years. If we take the case of vaccine development, science and technology has a significant role to play and has already contributed in India itself with examples like the development of vaccine for Rotavirus. However, there are huge disparities between the states in India with some of them in the southern states performing better than the northern states.”
In another key note, Dr Patrick Vallance, President R&D, GSK, UK spoke on innovation and deliberated on the need of openness to drive Innovation in healthcare. However, he stressed that a systematic way of making that information available to all is also necessary.
The day also witnessed panel discussions on Make in India – The power of manufacturing clusters which discussed about the Government initiatives to promote pharmaceutical manufacturing Infrastructure and the incentives & advantages offered by the manufacturing clusters. Another, insightful session was held on Funding the next wave of digital healthcare startups which deliberated on the current investment focus within healthcare and major drivers for investments alongwith opportunities for emerging players & start-ups. A Special session on the GST (Goods and Services tax) deliberated on how GST will affect the Life Sciences after its implementation.
On the conclusion of BioAsia 2017, Mr Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to Government of Telangana, Industries, Commerce, IT, Electronics and Communications stated that BioAsia 2017 successfully organized around 1200 trade meetings between various organizations and witnessed investments of close to INR 3,400 Crores during the event. All these sum up and put Hyderabad as the leading city in Life Sciences in the whole country. We are sure that Hyderabad will continue to work towards increasing its share in global life sciences industry in the coming years.”
The Startup Showcase during the last day of BioAsia 2017 included 5 select Startups which presented their products and services in the field of Healthcare to the delegates. These startups included Onward Health, Lattice Innovations, Bull’s Eye, Uber Diagnostic and ATS Ambulance Tracking System.
