DoP to organise a one-day 'National Convention on Biopharma' on July 12 in New Delhi

Considering the fact that India is a significant player in the global biopharmaceutical industry, the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) is organizing a one-day 'National Convention on Biopharma' with participation from Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in partnership with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with the support of Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) on July 12, 2010, at FICCI House in New Delhi.

The objective of the convention is to bring stakeholders and the government together to discuss where industry needs facilitation and the support of the government to bridge the gaps for making the Indian biopharmaceutical industry live up to its identified and acknowledged potential of a leader. The convention will have speakers from academia, industry and government to share their experience and highlight issues.

The convention is significant as India is gaining momentum in positioning itself as significant player in the global biopharmaceutical industry. Presently, biotechnology drug candidates account for over 30 per cent of all pipeline research programmes. To achieve a leadership position in the global market, Indian biopharmaceutical industry and the government need to join hands to identify and address key issues and challenges. Despite the fact the Indian potential in biopharma has been well recognized across the world, the industry continues to struggle with issues like inadequate infrastructure and shortage of suitably trained and skilled manpower.

India is among the top 12 global biotech hot spots and the third largest in Asia Pacific (in terms of number of biotech companies). However the industry continues to struggle with issues like inadequate infrastructure and shortage of critical manpower.

This convention is to initiate a stakeholder consultation to discuss collaborative approach towards making the Indian biopharmaceutical industry globally competitive and sustainable and serving national need for quality healthcare for all.

Biopharmaceutical product development is characterized by high uncertainty of product outcome and a heavy reliance on R&D. Soaring time and cost of development is a serious challenge. Evolving technology requires regulations to be flexible and adaptive. All these issues along with a focus on infrastructure and HR gaps that need to be bridged for increasing the production in India will be discussed in the one-day convention.

This convention will also see a discussion on a biopharma strategy paper being prepared for DoP by ABLE and PwC.