BioAsia 2021 to honor Bharat Biotech with Genome Valley Excellence Award

Hyderabad: BioAsia, the annual global Biotechnology and Life Sciences forum organized by the Government of Telangana, has announced that the prestigious Genome Valley Excellence Award for the year 2021 will be bestowed upon Bharat Biotech International Limited. The award is being given for its breakthrough, pioneering research, development and commercialization of vaccines including COVAXIN™ (COVID-19 Vaccine), Rabies vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine,  Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, Polio vaccine and Typhoid Conjugate vaccines, among others that have helped save billions of lives globally.

Dr. Krishna M. Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, and Mrs. Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International will receive the award on February 22, 2021, during the inaugural event of BioAsia 2021.

Bharat Biotech was selected by the International Advisory Board of BioAsia comprising of Mr. Ajit Shetty (Corporate Vice President Global Operations, Johnson & Johnson USA (retd.) and Chairman Emeritus,Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium), Mr. Makarand Jawadekar, (Former Director, Pfizer, USA), Mr. Robert Naismith, (Former Chairman, JUJAMA, Inc., USA), among others for its vision and commitment to developing the first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19 and leading the global fight against the pandemic. The company has also been anchoring the growth of the life sciences sector in Telangana and India, and has tremendously contributed to the development of life-saving vaccines. The company owns around 145 global patents and the products developed by them are exported to over 123 Countries.

The company has delivered more than 4 billion doses of vaccine all over the world including the world’s first: Eco-friendly recombinant Hepatitis-B vaccine, Rotavirus vaccine from a naturally attenuated strain and Typhoid Conjugate vaccine.

Bharat Biotech is led by Dr. Krishna M. Ella, Chairman & Managing Director,  a Ph.D. and a distinguished alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is strongly supported by Mrs. Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of  who holds a BA in Economics and Social Sciences from the University of Madras. She followed this up with a diploma in business development from UWCU – Madison, a diploma in real estate management from the University of South Carolina, and a post-graduate diploma in Patent Law from NALSAR – Hyderabad.

Speaking on the announcement of the 2021 Genome Valley Excellence Award, Mr. KT Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister for Industries & Commerce, Government of Telangana said, “Presenting the Genome Valley Excellence Award is one of the highlights of the BioAsia summit organized every year. Over the years, the Genome Valley Excellence Award has been presented to eminent personalities among the global Life Sciences community. We are honored to present this award to Bharat Biotech for its relentless work towards developing affordable vaccines for the global community and most recently, the remarkable work to help combat the COVID-19. The years of persistent work by Bharat Biotech under the able leadership of Dr. Krishna Ella and Dr. Suchitra Ella has indeed helped Telangana and India to show its prowess to the world in the life sciences industry.”

Mr. Shakthi Nagappan, Director, Lifesciences & Pharma, Government of Telangana said that “Genome Valley Excellence Award was instituted during the inaugural edition of BioAsia to recognize and honor eminent individuals and organizations for their exceptional contribution to the Lifesciences research & public health. Over the years, the award has gained significant stature and prestige. Recent awardees include several Nobel Prize winner’s Dr’s Kurt Wuthrich, Ada Yonath, Harald zur Hausen, Barry Marshall, Martin J Evans, Food Laureates, Lasker Awardees, and eminent leaders like CEO of Novartis Mr. Vas Narasimhan, Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy-Dr. Carl June, CEO of GAVI Dr. Seth Berkley, among others.”

ICMR DG to get a special award from FABA

Also, the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA), which is a partner organization of BioAsia has announced that the FABA Special Award will be bestowed upon Dr. Balram Bhargava for his exemplary contributions to medicine and healthcare. Dr. Balram Bhargava has been serving as the Secretary to Government of India, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare & Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research since 2018.  He has not only spearheaded the fight against COVID-19 in India but has also commenced several extraordinary marquee projects such as India-Stanford Biodesign programme, c-GMP Centre for Excellence for Stem Cell Studies, Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM) and many more. He has pioneered the development of indigenous low-cost coronary stents that have benefited several thousand patients.

FABA, which represents 20 Asian countries with a common interest in promoting human health through advances in Biotechnology, instituted the “FABA Special Award” in BioAsia 2010. Further, the Federation has announced that the award has been renamed as “Dr. B.S. Bajaj Memorial FABA award” in memory of the late Dr. B.S. Bajaj, who was a founding member of the Federation.

The principal industry hosts for BioAsia 2021 are Novartis and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories. Further, the industry co-host for the event are Aurobindo, Hetero Biopharma and Laurus Labs.