In a bid to create a globally competitive biopharmaceutical
industry that addresses the country’s major concerns around barriers to
affordable healthcare, Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister
of Science andTechnology launched the Innovate in India (I3)
program on June 30, 2017 in New Delhi. The 250 million
USD program of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of science and technology; is a first- of-its-kind mission that brings together industry and
academia to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the
biopharmaceutical sector. This flagship program of the GOI in collaboration
with World Bank, will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Enterprise, set up by DBT.
The mission was launched in the presence of Dr. K. VijayRaghavan,
Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World
Bank India; dignitaries from the concerned Ministries: Dr. Soumya Swaminathan,
DG- ICMR; Dr. J.P Prakash; Secretary Department of Pharmaceuticals, Dr. GN
Singh DCGI and DBT officials.
The Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan stated “This Mission is
anticipated to be a game changer for the Indian Biopharmaceutical industry. It
aspires to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and
indigenous manufacturing in the sector”. The programme will specifically focus
on the development of new vaccines, bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and medical
devices to better address the rising burden of diseases in the country. It will
also bring isolated centres of excellence together, enhance regional
capabilities and strengthen the current bio-clusters network in terms of
capacities as well as quantity and quality of output.
Expanding on the scope of the program Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan,
Secretary, Department of Biotechnology and Chairman BIRAC shared, that “This
endeavor will help nurture next- generation technical skills; promote
entrepreneurship; and support institutions in adoption of global innovations,
technologies, and licensing models. It will provide young entrepreneurs the confidence as well
as the systemic support to pursue their aspirations in biotechnological
innovation, and transform India into a global hub for cutting-edge
biotechnology research and development”.
The oversight to the program would be provided by the
Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee comprising of members from various
Ministries; and would be supported by Program Technical Advisory Group
comprising of global and national leaders from industry and academia. The
program thereby stands unique in its approach as it becomes a cradle to
innovate, co-create and co-facilitate scientific discoveries and offers young
entrepreneurs an avenue to engage with the best in the industry.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser DBT
and MD, BIRAC shared, “We undertook an extensive landscaping study to
identify critical gaps
impeding growth and innovation in the Biopharma sector. Taking cognizance of
these gaps, i3 is focussed on targeted measures to develop platform
technologies for product validation, link disparate institutions to strengthen
clinical trial networks, promote partial de-risking for novel products,
and build capacities in emerging areas such as translational bioinformatics,
bioethics etc.”With an aim to provide a level playing field for new entrants, the
program would open calls for research proposals beginning August and roll-out
in October this year.
The program launch occasion was also graced by the presence of
eminent scientists from academia and representatives from the Indian industry.
It promises to boost the growth curve for domestic biopharma in India by
accelerating the translation of research concepts into viable products,enabling sustainable networks for
collaboration between industry and academia, and supporting entrepreneurial
ecosystem amongst many others.
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