BIOINVEST 2014 concludes successfully boosting investor confidence

The Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), the apex body of the biotech sector in India has successfully concluded its flagship annual conference ‘BIOINVEST 2014’ in Mumbai with prominent industry experts debating and discussing on the need for investment in biotechnology sector. This year the event saw the industry stalwarts expressing a keen interest in capitalising on investor confidence. BIOINVEST 2014 addressed the critical barriers in the biotech industry today – intellectual capital and investment trends – and provided a platform to discuss these issues and more.

The event, which is an important life sciences and investment forum in the country, saw eminent industry experts, investors, venture capitalists, young and aspiring entrepreneurs discuss on key areas which will drive investor interest in India’s biotech sector in the next five years factoring in all the current constraints and some visible trends including big data and in-sourced R&D projects that may offer a solutions for the growth of the sector. The experts felt that private funding for early stage Indian biotech has not been encouraging and explored on the ways to generate interest of venture capitalists in the promising biotechnology space and help its growth. The conference also witnessed discussions on skill development and education as the key pillars for the industry to grow in future.

Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya from Advinus Therapeutics shared his insights on Advinus-Takeda deal and demonstrated how leading MNCs are not averse to tie-ups with innovative Indian companies. The top five winning teams from the Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Student Teams (BEST) 2013 edition from IIT Chennai, IISc Bangalore, Centre for Converging Technologies – University of Rajasthan and Amity Institute of Pharmacy – Noida, Stanford Bio Design and ICT-Mumbai pitched their innovative ideas to the gathering. The panel discussions on ‘Investing in Intellectual Capital Creation,’ ‘Investment Trends In Mature Biotech Markets – Lessons For India’ , ‘The Big Data Healthcare Business Revolution’ and on ‘Venture Capital for Life Sciences’ were stimulating and inspiring for industry and government representatives to ready themselves to meet the challenges of the industry.

Dr PM Murali, President, ABLE said that, “BIOINVEST 2014 received a good response and provides a perfect platform for the industry to discuss and debate challenges facing the biotech and allied sectors in the country and on ways to attract investment for the growth of the sector.”

The Indian biotechnology industry has been growing at a healthy pace and accelerating towards the anticipated $100 billion by 2025. A growth rate of 30 -35 per cent seems to be difficult task at a time when there are a lot of fundamental issues, both at the macro and micro level. ABLE along with government agencies and others have launched several initiatives over the past years to assist in eliminating the gap between industry, academia and government, which was hampering the growth of the industry.

EP News Bureau – Mumbai