DBT constitutes N-BRIC to drive indigenous innovation

New Delhi: To drive indigenous innovation focused on developing reagents, diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for COVID19, the Department of Biotechnology has constituted the National Biomedical Resource Indigenisation Consortium (N-BRIC) as a Public-Private Partnership.

The consortium will be based out of Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Platforms or C-CAMP in Bengaluru. It aims to provide a collaborative platform for building indigenous biomedical resources towards a self-reliant biotech ecosystem.

Commenting on the launch, Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary DBT said:  To meet our Biotech and Biomedical needs, the country needs to be self-reliant for product manufacturing and also the components, reagents, resources across the product development chain, N-BRIC brings together academia, industry, startups and MSME to serve not just the country but the world.  To meet the COVID 19 challenges, this is a good start and we hope to enlarge this to include all required resources, platforms and facilities.”

Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of N-BRIC said: “This consortium is of immense national importance at a time of an unprecedented global health emergency.  This will enable us to synergise and optimise the latent capabilities we possess across the pyramid of academic research labs, start-ups, MSMEs and large enterprise to deliver innovative solutions at scale for India and the world. I congratulate Dr Renu Swarup for spearheading this vital initiative.”

Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, Convener of N-BRIC said: “During these difficult times, we have realised the dire need of bio-medical resources for healthcare system and research community. This consortium, a converging platform for all stake-holders, is a major effort by DBT, conceptualized by DBT Secretary Dr. Swarup, to address this need across country and promote indigenous development and manufacturing. This could be a massive paradigm shift towards fostering high-end research and innovation.”