BioAsia 2017 held in Hyderabad

Projects worth Rs 3,382 crores were announced during the event

BioAsia, Asia’s largest biotechnology and life-sciences forum and the annual flagship event of the Government of Telangana, was recently held at Hyderabad International Convention Center, HICC. The 14th edition of BioAsia with the theme ‘Power of the Past, Force of the Future’, witnessed participation of delegates from healthcare, biotech, pharma, life-sciences, IT, academia and startups.

The event was inaugurated by ESL Narasimhan, Governor for Telangana in the presence of industry leaders from government, corporate and regulatory bodies. He also presented Genome Valley Excellence Award to Nobel Laureate Prof Kurt Wuthrichand and Dr Paul Stoffels, Worldwide Chairman Pharmaceuticals and Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson for their immense contribution in the field of life sciences and healthcare.

While inaugurating the event, ESL Narasimhan, Governor for Telangana said, “Telangana State has emerged as a leader in the life sciences sector and has immense scope for further industrial growth. Since its beginning in 2014, BioAsia as a platform has been instrumental for the state government to invite the global investors and business leaders, showcase the extraordinary infrastructure available in the state and attract investments. Over 200 MoUs and about Rs 14,000 crores investments have been announced at BioAsia. The event also has brought together leaders from over 89 countries at Hyderabad.”

The inaugural ceremony of BioAsia 2017 witnessed many strategic partnerships and investment announcements of around Rs 3,382 crores. Earlier, the day started with a delegate visit to the BioPark at Genome Valley, as a part of BioAsia 2017, where several companies showcased their state-of-the-art infrastructure to the high profile delegation.

Additionally, KT Rama Rao, Minister of IT, Industries, MA & UD, NRI Affairs, Govt. of Telangana inaugurated MN Park’s iHub Phase II and SME Hub @IKP. He also unveiled building plans of country’s largest animal resource facility being set up by Government of India in partnership with Government of Telangana. The first half of the day also witnessed ground breaking of Biological E’s SEZ Campus in Genome Valley. Overall, projects totalling Rs 1,680 crores were inaugurated at Genome Valley on a single day.

While addressing the delegates, Rao said, “Hyderabad has always been known as the top pharma destination worldwide. The city is and will remain the pharma production and innovation hub for the world and the proposed Pharma City will strengthen its position significantly. With new industrial clusters like Pharma City and Medical Devices park, Hyderabad is ready to assume leadership role of the life sciences industry in Asia and the world.”

Commenting on the occasion, Shakthi Nagappan, CEO, BioAsia said, “We are excited to witness the overwhelming response to the 14th Edition of BioAsia in terms of participation, investments and strategic partnerships. The presence of most influential leaders from global pharma powerhouses is a testimony to the stature where BioAsia has reached now. With participation from across the world, BioAsia has created a dominant position for itself and will continue to keep strengthening its leadership through strong focus on the deliberation topics and experts.”

Day two of the event had key notes from Dr Stoffels, Prof Wuthrich, Dr Vasanth Narasimhan, Global Head of Drug Development & CMO, Novartis, Switzerland. A parallel Innovation Conference and Automation in Diagnostics Conference was also held.

The international partners were the State of Illinois, US and State of Selangor, Malaysia whereas the State of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were the Indian state partners for the event.

Projects announced during BioAsia 2017

• An MoU was executed with Cerestra to explore a Life Sciences Infrastructure Fund to the tune of Rs 1000 crores to create sophisticated modular plug-and-play infrastructure for pharma/ biotech/ medical devices industry. This will be the first-of-its-kind fund in the country for creation of specialised infrastructure for the life sciences industry.
• Inauguration of MN Park’s iHub Phase II initiative with two million square feet of Lab Space for R&D companies and start-ups at an investment of about Rs 1000 crores
• Allotment letters for about six companies were handed over with a cumulative investment of Rs 702 Crores
• Unveiling of building plans of country’s largest animal resource facility to be set up by Government of India in partnership with Government of Telangana with a Central Government grant of Rs 330 crores and 102 acre of land from state government
• Ground breaking of Biological E’s SEZ Campus in Genome Valley with an investment of Rs 300 crores and creating direct and indirect employment for about 1,000 people
• Inauguration of SME Hub @IKP in Genome Valley with 50,000 square feet incubation facility for Life Sciences SMEs at an investment of Rs 50 crores.