Bangalore Bio kicks off

The sixth edition of Bangalore Bio, an annual biotechnology event hosted by the Karnataka Government, began at the sprawling parade grounds in Bangalore yesterday with Federal Minister for Science and Biotechnology Kapil Sibal’s call for production of affordable medicines.

Kicking off the three-day Bangalore Bio on Wednesday, Sibal called upon the biotechnology companies engaged in the research and production of medicine to manufacture medicines, which are available to the common man at an affordable cost.

Sibal’s call for production of affordable medicines comes a day after President A P J Abdul Kalam dedicated to the nation India’s first indigenously developed drug for treating head and neck cancer.

Developed by scientists of Biocon India, the monoclonal antibody - BioMab EGFR – works by binding to all cancer-specific antigens and inducing an immunological response against the target cells. “The life-saving cancer drug will hit the market in the next few months”, Biocon India’s chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw said.

Though a large number of monoclonal antibodies have been launched in the country, they are beyond the reach of a majority of cancer patients because of their prohibitive costs. Biocon’s drug is expected to come at an affordable rate to the cancer patients, Biocon officials said.

The Bangalore Bio, meanwhile, has attracted considerable interest from overseas with many foreign delegates from countries like the US, France, UK, Netherlands and Germany participating in the event.

The biotechnology industry in India, which is growing at an exponential pace, is expected to touch business worth $ 5 billion by 2010 and generate over a million jobs in the pharmaceutical, agricultural and allied sectors.

With unlimited opportunities in clinical research, clinical service, research and development of medicine, the biotechnology industry in India was growing at a rate of 30 per cent per annum, noted Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who is also the Chairperson of Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology.

Just ahead of Bangalore Bio, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had announced the setting up of a Biotechnology Park on a 106 acre plot at a cost of Rs one billion. “The Biotechnology Park would have a cascading effect and give a boost to the biotechnology industry in Bangalore”, Ms Shaw noted