New Delhi: India’s rise in the Global Innovation Index (GII) during 2022 has signaled a huge boost to its research ecosystem. The country’s jump in ranking from the 81st spot in 2015 to the 40th spot in 2022 means there has been a remarkable improvement in less than a decade. Again, it’s a considerably swing of six spots upwards in just one year from 2021 when it stood at the 46th position.
One of the key driving factors has been the existence of a stable government between the period from 2015 to 2020, especially with respect to policymaking.
The intangible investments by private corporations are on the rise, as is investment in R&D by foreign multinational corporations. Given the large number of multinational corporations now engaged in R&D, it is imperative that the host economy benefit from this activity. The adoption of internationally accepted policy instruments could foster a more effective interaction between foreign research centres and local firms.
According to the Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, the investment in bioeconomy increased from Rs 10 crore in 2014 to Rs 4,200 crore in 2022, with growth of 400 times, creating over 25,000 high skilled jobs. “Biotech incubators have increased from 6 in 2014 to 75 now, while biotech products have increased from 10 products to more than 700 today.” Dr Singh points out.
Ingredients for Innovation Curry
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Think differently for novel ideas
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Ability to take risks
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Open to discuss and share
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Incubation and translation
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Affordable and long-lasting solution
Looking at the India’s biotech sector, especially the vaccine and biosimilars segments, there has been a phenomenal track record of success. The industry and regulatory responses to the pandemic have demonstrated that new treatments could reach the market more quickly with greater cooperation and streamlined regulation across regions. The pandemic has accelerated collaboration and partnership models in research and manufacturing, as well as streamlining regulatory processes.
“The biotech industry crossed US$ 1 billion R&D spend, thanks to Covid economy and it almost trebled within a year from 320 million dollars in 2020 to 1,02 billion dollars in 2021. Biotech startups have grown 100 times in the last 8 years from 52 odd startups in 2014 to 5300 plus in 2022,” claims Dr Jitendra Singh.
Agrees Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) who say there has been significant change in the public outlook of R&D since the pandemic. “Across the world, science is now publicly regarded as a crucial tool to build solutions for larger good. The pandemic created a massive push for innovation in solutions. Innovations played a major role in India’s pandemic response from diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, PPE, medical technology, digital technology and others.”
Challenges and the possible solutions
Speaking at an event, Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, stated, “The Indian bioeconomy grew from $70.2 billion to $80.12 billion in 2021 and a total of 1,128 biotech startups were set up last year. India conducted a total of 506.7 million Covid-19 tests in 2021, as well as a total of 1.45 billion doses of its vaccines, were administered.”
While the feel good factor and optimism is good, the big question is whether the innovation is translating into enough product outcomes? Except the few genuine cases, India has been known for its ‘Jugaad Innovation’ which means taking the easiest possible route for establishing a short term order until the next one is found. Few will argue that with a huge population and lesser resources, this is the best we can do. But that doesn’t stop one from asking why is the real innovation not happening? Well the reason necessarily is not that are not enough ideas but possibly of enough translation.
“Over the years, India has been backing R&D across scientific institutions and universities. This has augmented the efforts of the government by creating a scientific environment in our country that is conducive to development of innovative solutions for the requirement of industry and society at large,” says Dr Sanjeev Khosla, Director, CSIR-IMTECH.
A large number of policies and programmes have been developed to encourage an innovation culture and absorb major emerging technologies. One impediment to the percolation of these technologies through the economy is the persistent shortage of well-trained scientists and engineers. Another impediment is the insufficient level of domestic investment in R&D. Research intensity is stagnant and patenting by domestic corporations, research institutes, universities and individuals remains low.
The lack of novel ideas could be the biggest threat to any industry’s long-term growth and existence. The eternal problem of inadequate links between public laboratories and manufacturers also demands policy attention, in order to improve technology spillovers and the commercialization of research output. Industry should be encouraged to mentor startups. One model could be the Companies Act (2013), which made it mandatory for firms to use 2% of their net profits to fund non-profit organizations, as part of their corporate social responsibility. This approach could be adapted to encourage firms to invest in start-ups in their economic sector.
Way Forward
It is a positive sign that states are increasingly involving individuals from the private sector and younger talents in the development and implementation of their policies. At the level of the union government, entrusting the co-ordination of innovation policies to a single office would avoid the current ‘silo approach’ to policymaking. Currently, every state is designing its own policies for areas such as biotechnology and information technology. They should also be encouraged to do more within the national framework, while focusing on local challenges. Moreover, rather than trying to invest across the board, states should focus on their own particular strengths.
As per Gaurav Kaushik, Managing Director & CEO, Meteoric Biopharmaceuticals, the research in biotech labs is undergoing a huge shift “Personalized medicine and synthetic biology are contributing in a big way to the R&D programmes in India. The future trends will be all about better alternatives to the existing biopharmaceutical options.”
The future opportunities in the biotech are expected to be driven by the country’s diverse population and climatic zones; vast talented human capital pool; increasing efforts for ease of doing business; and continuously increasing demand for bio-products. Although the number of startups has grown steadily since 2016, these tend to be concentrated in the cities of Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. To expand the horizons, more and more states should be encouraged to learn from one another.
Few of the challenges of R&D in biotech are the lengthy incubation time for product development and the requirement of an extensive clinical trials infrastructure, making it more expensive. Therefore, it is highly imperative for the India’s Innovation agenda to prioritize thriving industry-academia R&D synergies. Having said that, the hunger for innovation has to come from within the industry. One can argue about the lack of policies and funding but the real innovation requires the intent and clear focus to solve the complex challenges. Is the industry listening?
*The article was first featured in ‘Dec 2022 edition’ of BioVoice e-Magazine.
