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The Telangana state is all set to host 2,000 delegates from 37 countries for 3-day BioAsia 2020, Asia’s largest Biotechnology and Life Sciences Forum to be inaugurated in Hyderabad on Monday, February 17, 2020. With the theme of ‘Today for Tomorrow’, the annual flagship event of Government of Telangana is going to witness the presence of most eminent personalities and industry stalwarts from life sciences sectors across the globe.
Commenting on BioAsia 2020 and the role of Telangana state life sciences industry Mr. KT Ramarao, Minister for Industries & Commerce and IT, Government of Telangana, “Over the years, we have worked towards making Telangana one of the key hubs for Life Sciences industry and we have covered a significant path. The state is now known as the top Pharma and Life Sciences destination in the world. Genome Valley, India’s first and only systematically developed R&D and clean manufacturing ecosystem, has become the largest innovation and life sciences cluster in Asia. BioAsia has been playing a key role in bringing together the global industry leaders, researchers, policymakers, innovators, and investors together on one platform discussing the new opportunities and developing strategies to succeed.
Minister KTR also said “BioAsia has been instrumental in attracting world leaders to Hyderabad. He also stated that BioAsia helps showcase the infrastructure in Hyderabad to the global leaders who get the first-hand experience of the ecosystem which helps them in their decision on investments”
Industry stalwarts galore
Over the years, BioAsia has benefitted from its extraordinary participant history including scientific (Nobel Laureates, Lasker Awardees, Breakthrough Prize Winners) and global industry leaders. This year too, the event will bring together a galaxy of leaders including Dr. Carl June, University of Pennsylvania, CAR T-cell Therapy Pioneer (World’s first gene-based cancer/HIV therapy), Dr. Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Professor of Global Health, UK (Co-discoverer of the Ebola virus), Dr. Vas Narasimhan, CEO, Novartis, Switzerland, Dr. Jan Van Acker, President Emerging Markets Human Health, MSD / Merck & Co, Mr. Dilip Shanghvi, MD, Sun Pharma, Mr. Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Enterprises, Dr. Swati Piramal, Vice Chairperson, Piramal Enterprises, Ms. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon Ltd, Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT, Govt. of India, Mr. PD Vaghela, Secretary, DOP, Govt. of India.
BioAsia – Remarkable platform for partnerships and investment opportunities
After having seen overwhelming response year after year, BioAisa 2020 will be witnessing about 800 companies deputing their senior officials including over 350 CXOs to take part this global convention. BioAsia also helps in showcasing the robust infrastructure that the state offers to the global leaders with first-hand experience of the local ecosystem assisting them to make right investment decisions. Over 1,000 B2B partnering meetings have already been scheduled. The Chief Executive Officer of Lonza who had attended one of the previous BioAsia editions has decided to invest in Genome Valley immediately after visiting it which testifies the vigour of Hyderabad.
Commenting on BioAsia 2020, Mr Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries and IT, Government of Telangana said, “This annual flagship event so far witnessed thousands of delegates from about 95 countries and more than 16,000 business meetings held since its inception. During the BioAsia events, more than 250 MoU/LoIs have been signed between companies and the governments. It had been instrumental in attracting about Rs 17,500 Crore worth of investments into the life sciences and allied sectors. We have seen the constant improvement in interest from corporates as well as start-ups to participate, network, collaborate and tie-up to grow further in their respective fields. With the most successful journey so far, we are expecting this 17th Edition of BioAsia 2020 will further outshine the previous editions in across all parameters during the 3-day global convention”.
Start-up Stage – Springboard for promising entrepreneurs
The 17th edition of BioAsia 2020 is all set to host the largest exhibition in it’s history with about 175 exhibitors which will also feature “Start-up Stage” with about 75 shortlisted start-ups from India, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and UK based on the innovativeness of the product or solution, development stage and market readiness from over 350 applications. The best 5 out of the 75 start-ups will be awarded a cash prize co-sponsored by BIRAC and CIE-IIIT Hyderabad on February 19th during the closing ceremony and present their innovative solutions. Exhibition will also feature an Incubator Pavilion with about 15 incubators focused on life sciences and healthcare. Similar to last year, MSME pavilion will also be organized in partnership with Ministry of MSME with about 25 exhibitors.
Key Notes and Panel Sessions – Focused on opportunities, emerging trends and current challenges
With the feedback from Industries and stakeholders, this edition of the convention has shaped up to be the best BioAsia in the history in terms of content and quality of participation of global leaders. The 3-day global event will witness Fireside Chats with Dr. Carl June on CAR-T therapy – bringing individualized therapy to the masse and with Dr. Peter Piot on managing global health epidemics better – lessons from Ebola. While Mr. June has done exemplary work in Cancer treatment, Dr. Piot is the co-discoverer of Ebola virus and will focus his session on the ongoing Corona outbreak.
The CEO Conclave with policy makers like Hon’ble Minister for Industries and Commerce, Govt. of India – Mr. Piyush Goyal and Hon’ble Minister for Industries & Commerce, Govt. of Telangana – Mr. KT Rama Rao will take part where industry tycoons will debate and discuss on the emerging issues, challenges and opportunities available in the global life sciences sector.
This year, a spotlight session to celebrate the remarkable contributions of women titled “Women in Life Sciences, Tech and Healthcare: Journey from Aspire to Inspire” will also be held with some of the top women leaders from Indian and global companies.
Hon’ble Mr Piyush Goel will also join for a CEO Pharma Roundtable to deliberate on the opportunities and challenges for life sciences industry in India, where India and Telangana will be shown as the most favorable investment destination for the industry. A similar roundtable will be organized to address the positive outcomes in terms of changes in the regulatory framework. The Medtech Roundtable will deliberate on opportunities and challenges in the sector.
Eminent leaders from the lifesciences industry and government will deliberate on the role of stakeholders in managing global epidemics and also making innovation affordable. In another session the panelists will focus on ‘Unlocking the potential of public private partnership in research and what’s next for the Indian life sciences Industry’, that can show a new direction for Indian pharma industry particularly in the wake of the current disruptions in the global supply chain.
Partner States and Country – Global exposure for local growth
Switzerland will be the partner Country this year as part of the annual tradition. An eminent 40-member team comprising industries, academia and start-ups from Switzerland will participate in the event. Switzerland’s strength in healthtech is unparalleled with over 1,400 companies employing 58,500 professionals and generating CHF 15.8 Billion in revenue (in 2018). Swiss MedTech industry contributes 2.3% of the country’s GDP. The Swiss BioTech industry alone is home to 312 companies, generating the revenue of CHF 4 Billion whilst investing over CHF 1.5 Billion in R&D, every year. While Germany will be the international partner, delegations from South Africa, Australia, Spain, UK, USA, among others will be gracing the event.
BioAsia 2020 is being organized in partnership with Government of India, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of MSME, Department of Biotechnology, Department of Pharmaceuticals and it has state partners include Assam, Kerala, Odisha and Gujarat.
Anticipating increased interest from delegates during BioAsia 2020, Mr Shakthi Nagappan, CEO of BioAsia and Director of Telangana Life Sciences said, “We expect the 17th edition of BioAsia 2020 would continue the tradition of being the largest summit in Asia region in the field of Life Sciences with more number of delegates participating from over 37 countries. The 3-day event is all set to witness the fruitful deliberations, thought provoking discussions and the latest innovations that disrupt the global biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries towards the betterment of human life. The eminent panelists, speakers will deliberate on issues of relevance for the industry including the novel corona virus epidemic and managing such epidemics, CAR-T therapy, AI in healthcare, among others”
About BioAsia: BioAsia is born with a vision to enhance, enrich and encourage newer innovations, path-breaking discoveries and effective solutions in the biotechnology industry by offering a vibrant global platform for convergence of the key stakeholders – Biotech & Biopharma Companies, research institutions, academia, investors, service providers, policy makers, regulators and analysts. BioAsia is focused in its efforts – to drive the growth of the industry by enabling an effective environment for fostering collaborations, JV’s M&A’s; ensure knowledge and experience sharing by global industry players to benefit all stakeholders; promote innovations and initiatives through appropriate awards and recognitions; play a pivotal role in advocating issues to the policy makers and chartering the road-map of bio-technology. BioAsia is a dynamic platform for companies -to exhibit, launch and showcase their unique strengths, products and services. BioAsia is playing the role of a key catalyst in mobilizing all elements that are required to drive the growth of the emerging industry of Biotechnology as well as optimize the immense business potential of biotech. On a larger level, BioAsia is working to drive a global transformation from the treatment of illness to wellness.
About FABA (Federation of Asian Biotech Associations):The Federation of Asian Biotech Associations [FABA], is a non-profit registered society engaged in various activities related to promoting Biotechnology in Asian countries. FABA, headquartered at Hyderabad made its humble beginning in 2004 and has achieved a significant landmark in creating a common platform for interaction among member countries and discuss the issues of common interest for improving the biotech space including Technology Transfer, resource sharing, business collaborations, Industry-Academia linkage, cross border trade and investments, etc. among its member countries., FABA has a strong network base in 20 Asian countries including China, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Israel, Iran, Indonesia, Nepal, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and UAE. Besides, FABA has entered into working understandings with Non-Asian organizations like European Federation of Biotechnology, Biocat (Spain), Maryland India Business Round Table (USA), Bio Industry Park (Italy) and Association of German Biotech companies (Germany), etc.
