India showcases its biotech power at BIO Boston

New Delhi: India’s biotech industry was present in full strength at the annual BIO Boston International Conference and Convention at the India Pavilion, set up by the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), on behalf of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

The Pavilion was inaugurated on 5th June by Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, ABLE & Biocon Chairperson along with Mr C P Goyal, Joint Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Mr Shrikumar Suryanarayan, President, ABLE and chairman, Sea6 Energy.

Inaugurating the pavilion, Mr Goyal highlighted the various efforts of the government into take India’s biotechnology to the next level, briefed about the startup India and startup promotion funds provided by BIRAC (the Biotechnology Industry and Research Assistance Council) under the DBT. Birac has supported more than 300 startups so far. Government has also launched a new Rs 150 crore fund to support innovation in biotech.

Dr Mazumdar-Shaw highlighted the efforts of ABLE in catalyzing the growth of biotech in the country and the efforts in ensuring smooth operations of India Pavilion to facilitate Indian biotech companies to leverage the partnership opportunities at BIO Boston.

The world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry witnessed the record 17,000 participants over the 4 days of the event. Started in 1993 in a small way, this is the 25th anniversary of the convention, organized by the American Industry group, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

The event also prepared to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for facilitating more than 45,000 partnering meetings at the venue.

Besides DBT, BIRAC and ABLE, the state governments of Karnataka and Telangana have a big presence in the pavilion. India’s leading publicly funded research network, Council for Scientific and Industrial Training (CSIR) was an exhibitor at the pavilion. DBT-ABLE sponsored the presence of eight startups in the Startup Corner. The IKP Knowledge Park, BioNeeds and Pandorum Technologies also exhibiting at the India Pavilion.

Dr Kiran Mazumar-Shaw also released the India Biotech Handbook 2018 that showcases the various success stories of India’s biotech sector, the latest statistics of the $45 billion BioEconomy and the updated numbers of 1732 biotech startups in India. It has been brought out by ABLE.

(This news is based on a press note by ABLE.)