BioSpectrum Jobs Coffee Table Book- BTS

An Publication

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premier source of pharma healthcare & bio jobs

Total Pages including cover 36

JOHBEASLTSHPSOCTIELNCIGESHT

INDUSTRY NEWS l CAREER ARTICLES l THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Coffee Table Book 2022

www.biospectrumjobs.com

premier source of pharma healthcare & bio jobs

MISSION We are on a mission to provide the latest jobs
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Biotech & Health Sciences, University Professors,
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4 BIOSPECTRUM AWARDS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

sets the tone for Excellence Awards 2022
on December 2 in Singapore

To appreciate the Asian companies and development; and Best Vaccine efforts of the year.
individuals for their commendable performance The Jury Special awards have well-defined criteria
and achievements during Calendar Year (CY)
2021, and noting that Asia is the new hub for potential for which BioSpectrum’s editorial team has brought
growth and innovation, BioSpectrum Asia is setting together a six-member international jury to evaluate
the tone for an exciting opportunity in the form of the shortlisted nominees.
BioSpectrum Asia Excellence Awards 2022.
BioSpectrum Asia Excellence Awards 2022 jury
These awards are an extension to observe and comprised of Prof. Patrick Tan Executive Director,
highlight the winners in the long battle to tackle the Genome Institute of Singapore; Prof. Gagandeep
world’s emerging Kang, Laboratory Director, The Wellcome Trust
health problems and
find solutions. Since Research Laboratory,
the years 2020 and India; Clare Blain, Chief
2021 were majorly Executive Officer, Life
affected by the Sciences Queensland
COVID-19 pandemic, Limited, Australia; Dario
we saw the industry Heymann, PhD, Chief
players relentlessly Research Officer, Galen
working towards Growth, Singapore; Dr
developing novel Satya Dash, Founding &
solutions in the form of diagnostic tests, vaccine, Former Head Strategy;
monoclonal antibodies, drugs etc. to fight the Biotechnology Industry
emergency. Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of
Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India; and Xinyi
Through these awards, BioSpectrum Asia is Tow, Director, Hello Tomorrow Asia Pacific, Singapore.
playing the role of picking tomorrow’s winners, Editor’s Choice awards have been selected by the
nudging today’s entrepreneurs to achieve greater glory magazine’s editorial team to turn the spotlight onto
and honouring yesterday’s key players who laid the companies we believe will lead the way in the near
foundation for success. future.
Back in 2006, the Asia edition of BioSpectrum was
The BioSpectrum Asia Excellence Awards 2022 launched to chronicle the growth of the Life Sciences
will be divided into two segments- Jury Special sector in the Asia region. Since its launch in March
and Editor’s choice. The former segment has six 2006 in Singapore, the magazine has been successful
categories associated with it- Emerging company or in bringing an Asian flavor to the world of life sciences,
startup of the year; Technology/ product of the year; dominated for over a century by global companies.
Woman Entrepreneur of the year; Entrepreneur of BioSpectrum Asia’s inaugural Life Sciences
the year; Business person of the year; and Lifetime Industry Award was conceptualised way back in 2008
achievement award. and the event took place in 2009. After organising
several successful annual events to celebrate and
The latter segment will focus on the following recognise leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation
categories- Top Company in Bioprocessing; Top in Asia’s life sciences industry since 2009, and with a
Company in Manufacturing Technology and small gap in between, we are now back to continue
Equipment; Top Company in API development; Top this legacy forward in 2022.
company for Analysis, Testing, and Quality Control; We hereby invite you to attend the star-studded
Top Company in Packaging & Drug Delivery Services; evening with your team at Lavender Ball Room, Hotel
Top Company in Supply Chain, Logistics, and Fort Canning in Singapore on December 2, 2022. n
Distribution; Top Company in clinical research-based

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com CONTENT 5

6 18

Industry News “Merck Life Science is expanding
in India and also hiring talents
10 based on market & customer needs”
Dhananjay Singh,
Returning Mothers: Head of Science and Lab Solutions,
Upskilling Their Way in Their Career India at Merck Life Science

12 19

Skilling for jobs in Life Sciences & “Talent gap offers Indian healthcare
Pharma Sector- Need of the hour workers opportunity to establish
Kamal Shahani, careers in international markets”
Managing Director, Cliniminds, Alejandro Coca,
Unit of Tenet Health Edutech Head of Business
at Trueprofile.io
13
20
Rising Demand for Medical Coding
as Lucrative Employment Career “There is growing competition now
Gayathri Natarajan, between big pharma and tech industry
Vice President & Head – for high quality tech talent”
Coding Services, Access Healthcare Sai Sethuraman,
India Head for Global
14 Product Development, Pfizer

“Several companies have set up their 21
R&D centres in India employing large
numbers of engineers and associates” Evolution of Bengaluru’s Biotech
Ram Rangarajan, Ecosystem: The True Game Changers!
Vice President, Mittur N. Jagadish, PhD
SGTC – R&D, Stryker Former Head of the Biotechnology
Facilitation Cell, Department of
15 IT BT and S&T, Government of
Karnataka, President, IBioM
“Biopharma Industry in India needs (Indian Biotech and MSME Association)
diversified talent specialising in
digital transformation & automation” 30
Benjamin James,
HR Business Partner, Industry News
Asia-Pacific, Cytiva

Chief Editor: Dr Milind Kokje
MCI (P) 020/06/2022 Biospectrum Asia
Copyright: MM Activ Singapore Pte Ltd.

Printed and published by
Ravindra Boratkar on behalf of MM Activ Singapore Pte Ltd.
Printed at Times Printers Private Limited 16 Tuas Avenue 5, Singapore 639340. Tel : +65-63112888
Supplement brought out by BioSpectrum for Private Circulations.

6 INDUSTRY NEWS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Hetero US-based CRO Emmes expands in
creates 2000 India, increasing employee count
new jobs
in Telangana Emmes, a global, full-service contract research organisation (CRO), has
rapidly expanded its capabilities in India during the last two years. Emmes’
Hetero has announced the India operations are headquartered in Bengaluru with an additional office
acquisition of a brownfield in Ahmedabad. The company’s operations in India have seen surging
manufacturing plant growth with local revenue increasing by 400 per cent and global study
at Penjerla located in revenue increasing by more than 50 per cent. The CRO forecasts its Indian
Telangana, from Johnson operations will grow further over the next year, with employee numbers
& Johnson. The facility quickly surpassing 200. 60 per cent+ growth has been achieved over the
spread across 55.27 acres, past year with continued high growth planned over the next three years.
will be Hetero’s flagship Exponential growth in the size of the local team and services offered has
sterile pharmaceutical and resulted in enhanced ability to support large Phase III and IV studies. And,
biologics manufacturing unit, in fact, the team in India is currently leading five phase III trials for global
bolstered by state-of-the-art clients. Looking ahead to 2023, the Emmes team in India has identified
technology. The acquisition indigenously developed vaccine trials as a strong growth area, as well as a
reinforces Hetero’s renewed broad spectrum of trials from international sponsors.
commitment to expand
its reach and capabilities Glamyo Health announces
in order to respond with aggressive hiring plans
agility to the world’s evolving
health needs and produce New Delhi-based startup Glamyo the company is streamlining and
high-quality and affordable Health has announced aggressive reinforcing its workforce, which
medicines. The company has hiring plans for the ongoing fiscal. will induce fresh skill sets and
committed an investment The brand has announced to fuel to facilitate developmental
upwards of $75 million increase its manpower by 35 per initiatives. The brand is looking
(approximately Rs 600 crore) cent by the end of current fiscal forward to on-boarding aspirants
to upgrade and enhance year. Presently, the company across multiple departments as
existing facilities at the site boasts a total strength of 350 and part of its vision to reshape the
and expand manufacturing with the fresh scheduled drive, healthcare scenario in India by
of global biologics and the healthcare brand will take delivering the best medical care.
sterile pharmaceutical the number up to 450. Glamyo The recruitment drive will include
products. With this facility, Health recently announced maximising the strength of the
Hetero aims to add 2000 ambitious goals for fiscal year sales and marketing departments.
new jobs in biochemistry, 2022-23, including achieving The majority of the hiring will be
pharmaceutical sciences, an annualised run-rate of $80 for the NCR location, where the
molecular biosciences, million. To expedite the process, brand is headquartered.
engineering, and ancillary
services.

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com INDUSTRY NEWS 7

PharmNXT Biotech FICCI and KPMG prioritise
unveils new strengthening healthcare
manufacturing unit workforce in India
in Pune, to generate
upto 200 jobs To discuss various facets of the country’s healthcare
workforce, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
Mumbai-based PharmNXT Biotech & Industry (FICCI) and KPMG in India have released a report
has launched its first integrated titled ‘Strengthening healthcare workforce in India: the 2047
manufacturing unit in Pune to provide agenda – Top 20 priorities’ at the 16th edition of FICCI’s annual
single-use bioprocessing solutions. healthcare conference – FICCI HEAL 2022. The report aims
The state-of-the-art facility has been to understand the journey and transformation of healthcare
launched to address the challenges of education (medical, nursing and allied healthcare) in the
biologics manufacturing in the country. country and the looming healthcare workforce gaps in various
The manufacturing unit will be called states. This report provides recommendations on innovative
PharmNXT ekuse and is spread over and pioneering solutions to bridge the gaps in demand and
40,000 sq ft. The new facility was supply of healthcare workforce and healthcare education
launched at PharmNXT Biotech, the institutes. In the coming decade, India has the potential to not
company’s facility in Chakan, Pune. only bridge the gaps of healthcare workforce in the country
Housing the latest production technology, but also become an export hub for healthcare workforce to
the plant is built to provide single-use the world. The private and public stakeholders need to work
bioprocessing solutions with plans to together to come up with innovative and pioneering solutions
cater to the demands of global markets to make the workforce more robust and future-ready.
such as Singapore, Korea, Europe and
the US. The new facility will also generate
employment opportunities for over 100
to 200 people. The ekuse manufacturing
facility will be engaged in crafting the
Xelta range of single-use bioprocessing
products and ‘NXTmix’ a levitating mixing
technology.

Torrent Pharma adds 600 MRs &
distribution network of 900 stockists

Ahmedabad-based Torrent business indicating an Enterprise Pharma will add a field force of
Pharmaceuticals has entered into Value of Rs 1,885 crore. Curatio 600 marketing representatives
definitive agreements to acquire has a strong presence in the (MRs) and a distribution network
100 per cent of Chennai-based cosmetic dermatology segment of 900 stockists. Curatio’s reported
Curatio Healthcare (I) for Rs with a portfolio of over 50 brands, revenue for FY21-22 was Rs 224
2,000 crore. The consideration marketed in India. Curatio’s crore. Dermatology accounts
includes Rs 115 crore of cash and portfolio consists of leading for 82 per cent of Curatio’s
cash equivalents in the acquired brands such as Tedibar, Atogla, revenue. Within dermatology,
Spoo, B4 Nappi, and Permite, cosmetic dermatology is a leading
which are ranked amongst top 5 contributor. With this deal, Torrent
brands in their covered market. Pharma will enter the league of
Top ten brands of Curatio account top 10 players in the dermatology
for ~75 per cent of total revenue. segment and will be the leader in
With this acquisition, Torrent the cosmetic dermatology space.

8 INDUSTRY NEWS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Axtria creates Modivcare to recruit 200 local & top-
extensive job tier talents at new lab in Bengaluru
opportunities
in India Modivcare Inc., the largest manager of non-emergency medical
transportation (NEMT) in the United States, has announced the opening
Axtria, a life sciences- of Modivcare Labs in Bengaluru. The $2.3 billion technology-enabled
focused global cloud healthcare services company addresses the social determinants of health
software and data analytics (SDoH) by bringing critical patient transportation, remote patient monitoring,
company, has announced meal delivery, and personal in-home care to 34 million patients, or roughly
the opening of three new 10 percent of the US population. The Modivcare Labs centre of excellence
offices in India as part of in Bengaluru will build world-class digital platforms and applications to help
its business expansion the most vulnerable and underserved US patient population access quality,
plans. The new offices in life-saving care. This will be achieved by utilising emerging technologies
Noida, Pune, and Hyderabad in data science, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet
will play a critical role in of Things (IoT), telematics, blockchain, and big data to create innovative,
strengthening Axtria’s digital services for patient transportation, meal delivery, and in-home care.
workforce, tapping into These intense intellectual exercises are being carried out in Modivcare Labs
India’s unique demographic to provide on-time performance and a rich user experience for patients.
advantages. Axtria recently Developing these advanced, digital technology-enabled services will require
opened a new office recruiting local, top-tier talent for Modivcare Labs in Bengaluru.
in Bengaluru. With the
expansion, Axtria will be I-STEM initiative to help women
able to create extensive job come back after career break
opportunities in the Science,
Tech, Engineering, and Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST), a new I-STEM
Mathematics (STEM) fields, (Indian Science Technology and Engineering facilities Map) initiative
pan-India. The company called “Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WEST)” has
will significantly expand its been launched by Dr Parvinder Maini,
headcount with over 1,000 Scientific Secretary, Office of the
data scientists, software Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to
developers, and data the Government of India. Through the
engineers across its office WEST initiative, I-STEM shall provide a
locations. Axtria currently separate platform to scientifically inclined
has nine offices in India, women researchers, scientists, and
including Gurgaon, Noida, technologists for pursuing research in
Hyderabad, Bengaluru and basic or applied sciences in frontier areas
Pune. Axtria will continue to of science and engineering. Women may
expand its operations in India join the WEST programme and explore
to take advantage of India’s opportunities to become stakeholders in
vast talent pool. various domains and pursue careers in R&D at various levels: technicians,
technologists, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Opportunities range from
operating scientific equipment and maintaining them, to designing and
manufacturing them.

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com INDUSTRY NEWS 9

Apexon to hire CitiusTech
1,000 engineers across India to offer
2000 new
Apexon, a newly formed digital engineering powerhouse – the result of the jobs in the
merger between two major players in digital engineering services – has coming year
announced it plans to hire close to 1,000 engineers across India (in the
next three-four quarters) to meet the surging demand for its products and CitiusTech, a leading
services. Apexon, and Infostretch Corporation recently completed the merger provider of consulting
of their complementary digital engineering and digital technology
businesses. The combined organisation, which to healthcare and life
has 19 offices and close to 6,000 employees sciences companies, is
across the globe, is operating under the planning to increase its
“Apexon” brand name beginning in late headcount by 2000 in
July 2022. Newly spearheaded by Sriniketh the coming year from
Chakravarthi, a technology services veteran its current strength of
who has played leadership roles at both Tech 7000. A $350 million
Mahindra and Cognizant, Apexon will embark company with offices in
on a major recruitment drive in India that will the US, India, Singapore,
enable it to accelerate growth in high-growth Canada and the UK,
sectors and expand its client base globally. CitiusTech works with
Apexon will focus its hiring efforts across horizontal as well as vertical more than 130 healthcare
expertise. The newly merged entity is expanding its medtech and healthcare and life sciences
solution offering. The company promises to deliver a human-centered organisations to drive
approach to tech, enabling the latest in digital medicine and care for leading digital transformation
hospitals, device makers, and life science innovators and their end users. through healthcare-
focused solutions,
CoreStack opens new platforms and consulting
R&D facility in Chennai, services. Featured at 7 in
creates new job opportunities the Top 100 Healthcare
Technology Companies
CoreStack, a global multi- outgrow this new facility within the of 2022 and ranked
cloud governance provider that next 12 months. With headquarters as the 2 pure-play
empowers enterprises to unleash in Bellevue, Washington and healthcare IT and software
the power of the cloud, recently additional offices in the United company, CitiusTech
marked the official grand opening States, United Arab Emirates and was recognised for its
of the company’s new state-of- India, the company’s expansion and cutting-edge technology
the-art office located in Chennai, increased focus on R&D efforts is expertise, deep healthcare
expanding its India business paramount. CoreStack’s NextGen domain expertise, and a
operations and the company’s Cloud Governance fabric helps strong focus on digital
global R&D footprint. To celebrate enterprises, managed service transformation that is
the office opening, CoreStack providers (MSPs) and global enabling healthcare
hosted its customers, investors, system integrators (GSIs) increase organisations to deliver
partners and employees at the top-line and enhance bottom-line better outcomes,
event. With over 300 employees, efficiencies. CoreStack works accelerate growth, drive
the new facility gives the company with many large global customers efficiencies, and make
adequate space to continue to across multiple industries including a meaningful impact to
grow and support its increasing financial services, healthcare, retail, patients, caregivers and
customer base. CoreStack is education, telecommunications, consumers.
expecting the Chennai office to technology and government.

10 CAREER ARTICLES COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Returning Mothers:
Upskilling Their
Way in Their Career

Whether you are a mother who has and many have been trusting Biocon Academy, a CSR
been out of the workplace for initiative of Biocon and the Centre of Excellence for
one year or ten years, the thought Advanced Learning in Applied Biosciences, to match
of restarting your career can be themselves with the current skills that are in demand
daunting. The skills you might have in the industry.
learned might be outdated in the fast-evolving biotech
industry, making it harder and being one of the biggest A student of Batch 19 of the Biocon KGI Certificate
challenges for women who want to return to work Programme in Biosciences, Vandana says, "I'm a
after sabbaticals. mother of twin girls. Building a career for myself was
important to me because of them. This is why I chose
Arya, a mother of the 8-year-old Avanthika, who to join Biocon Academy. The quality of education
is currently pursuing the industry-oriented certificate provided at the academy was crucial to achieving
program in Biosciences at Biocon Academy says, my goal." This interest in upskilling themselves
"People often tell that if a girl is married and becomes helps mothers like Arya and Vandana who are on a
a mother even before building up her career, then
that’s the end of her career. I totally disagree with
this statement. Neither women have to sacrifice
their careers if they are mothers, nor do they have to
sacrifice their motherhood to build a career. We can
do both at the same time and I am a prime example
of that."

After getting married during the second year of her
bachelor's degree, Arya soon realised she is becoming
a mother! "Completing my course and starting a
career were my biggest concerns," says Arya who took
her 2-month-old daughter along with her to attend
her examinations. She later completed her master’s
degree and worked for two years, and is currently on
the way back to pursue a career she always dreamt
of. She also says, "Based on what I learned from my
entire experience, we usually grow only when we are
faced with challenges. I was discouraged by many
that I will not be able to study once I got pregnant, but
here I am today, standing in front of everyone after
completing my master’s and pursuing Biocon KGI
Certificate Programme in Biosciences after having a
wonderful baby girl."

Arya is just one of the many such examples
among the alumni of Biocon Academy. While most
women want to return to work, skill mismatch and job
readiness is an apparent question that haunts them,

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com CAREER ARTICLES 11

career break to enable them to regain confidence by of options to bounce back seemed limited, as every
connecting with fellow students, top-class faculty and potential employer focused on my career gap without
industry experts, and best-in-industry curriculum. looking into my skill set and knowledge. Then I
planned to upgrade my skills by pursuing the Biocon
Over the last couple of years, Biocon Academy JSS AHER Certificate Programme in Global Regulatory
has been seeing a steady growth in the number of Affairs," said Aruna Pathak, an alumnus of Biocon
mothers who are showing interest in rebuilding their Academy. She also added, "Initial days of the course
careers and applying to various certificate programs were quite challenging for me to make a balance
offered by the academy. The first batch of Biocon between managing my household chores, kids, and
JSS AHER Certificate Program that was launched in this newly joined course. But within a few days, I
August 2021 had three mothers out of the total of 19 found myself to be a totally changed individual, high
students. In just last one year, Biocon Academy has in confidence and back to the same groove which
had 7 students who are mothers, with more and more existed once when I was a working professional. I
applications being received for the upcoming batches. am grateful that I had great people around me. The
support and motivation from family, friends, my fellow
Bindu Ajit, Programme Dean, Biocon Academy batchmates, and a very encouraging faculty helped
says, “With the right upskilling opportunity and having me to strive harder to achieve my goal."
the belief in oneself, there's no boundary to what a
person can achieve in their career. Since the inception Another Global Regulatory Affairs Batch 1 student
of Biocon Academy, we have been increasingly Sangita Mishra said, "The journey in itself was both
witnessing more and more mothers who are willing exciting and exhausting, but the learning never stopped.
to get back on track in their careers with an ardent It was challenging to manage both education and
willingness and capabilities to manage both careers motherhood. Being a mother of a 5-year-old daughter
and families. And we at Biocon Academy, understand the task felt uphill in the beginning. There were times
this very much and support mothers as much as when I felt demotivated. But the support that I received
possible in each batch.” from Biocon Academy, my batchmates, professors of
JSS College of Pharmacy, and my family along with
"When I wanted to get back into the workforce my own resolution to achieve my goal not only helped
after a break in my career, I realised that the number me in finishing my education but also inspired me to
pursue a PhD in Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs."

Anjali, a student of BITS Biocon Certificate
Programme in Applied Industrial Microbiology, Batch
8, who recently got placed in the placement drive,
mentions that she was worried about managing her
family along with the course. She says, "I couldn't
stay at the hostel since I am a feeding mother. I had
to take care of my baby and I was really worried
about the emotions of being far away from my child. I
thought it will not be possible. But my husband stood
with me, and my in-laws helped me in managing my
responsibility as a mother. And after a few days, it
was a part of my routine. There was constant support
from the faculty of Biocon Academy who always
encouraged me during my studies."

A recent report published by Genpact Centre for
Women’s Leadership mentions that 50 per cent of
working women who are around 30 years of age in
India leave their jobs to take care of their children. In
today’s fast-moving industrial scenario, this break in
a career often comes with its own challenges, and
Biocon Academy along with addressing the current
skill deficit that exists in the biotech industry in India
also supports mothers in rebuilding their careers with
the right industry-oriented skills. n

12 CAREER ARTICLES COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Skilling for jobs in Life Sciences &
Pharma Sector- Need of the hour

Kamal Shahani, hiring qualified professionals in this domain. This
Managing Director, sector alone is creating over 3,000 highly skilled new
Cliniminds, Unit of jobs in India.
Tenet Health Edutech
Regulatory affairs is another area where major
With being the world’s third largest global pharmaceutical companies outsource their
industry by volume, the Indian pharma Chemistry, Manufacturing & Controls and Regulatory
industry valued at $41.7 billion is operations. This area requires highly skilled workforce
currently growing at a CAGR of 12 and India alone needs over 3,000 highly skilled
per cent to grow 3x and attain a value professionals in this domain.
more than $120 billion by 2030. Being the 12th largest
exporter of medical goods, the pharma exports stood Another area where India is becoming a destination
at $24.44 billion in FY2021 witnessing an 18 per cent for the global pharma and healthcare companies, is
growth. business analytics & data science. India is a major hub
for competitive intelligence, forecasting, HEOR (Health
Post COVID-19, India’s share in the global market is Economics Outcomes Research), market research and
increasing as more and more countries are looking to sales force analytics. So, there are thousands of new
source their pharmaceutical requirements from India. jobs being created in this sector alone, with more than
This is creating major opportunities for the Indian 2,000 highly skilled fresh graduates and post graduates
companies. Large number of global companies are required in this domain every year.
investing in India’s life sciences, pharma and healthcare
sector. India also witnessed a 200 per cent increase in As Indian pharmaceutical companies are
FDI’s (Foreign Direct Investments) in FY2021, growing building huge in-house medical writing capacity, and
at a rate of 53 per cent during the same period. multinational pharmaceutical companies & CROs
are outsourcing their medical writing processes to
As India is becoming a prime destination of global India, over 1,500 highly qualified and highly skilled
clinical trials, large number of global pharmaceutical professionals are required each year in areas like
companies are conducting clinical trials in India as medical & scientific writing.
the country offers a robust clinical trial regulatory
framework, qualified professionals, infrastructure, Skills in Need
and cost advantage. Statistical analysis and clinical All the above areas mentioned require special skill
data management are other important sub segments sets and most of these skill sets are not provided
where large number of global pharma companies and as a part of the traditional university education,
CROs outsource their statistical analysis and data neither at graduate nor at post graduate level. As the
management activities. This sector is also creating outsourcing and localisation of these processes is
over 6,000 new highly skilled jobs every year while increasing, companies are finding it hard to recruit
currently growing at over 20 per cent per annum. professionals and train fresh graduates.
With no pen and paper jobs available anymore, it
Growing Need in Pharma & Life Sciences becomes vital to have great typing skills. Some basic
Large number of global MNC pharma companies skills on Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and
are outsourcing pharmacovigilance processes from Excel) would give boost to your candidature.
India. With changes in Indian pharmacovigilance Last but not the least, communication skills play
regulations, Indian pharmaceutical companies are an important role during interviews. Acquiring these
skills would give you the advantage and edge in the
job markets where thousands of new life sciences,
pharma, and allied medical graduates and post
graduates are aspiring to join.
With skill gap becoming a great point of concern
in the pharma and life sciences sector, it’s time for
companies and individuals to remodel their strategy to
build a smarter workforce. n

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com CAREER ARTICLES 13

Rising Demand for Medical Coding
as Lucrative Employment Career

Demand for healthcare continues to be Gayathri Natarajan,
high, but the nature of this demand is Vice President &
unpredictable. Healthcare systems (providers Head – Coding Services,
including hospitals, doctors, practices, etc.) Access Healthcare
face challenges in forecasting, resource
planning and staff sourcing. Payers are slowly shifting The ideal Medical Coder
their focus towards value-based care, meaning the Since the medical codes serve as the standard
payout is based on outcomes achieved from the language for interpreting medical conditions & care
healthcare rendered, not the cost of services/treatment. provided between the payer &provider, accuracy &
Keeping up with rising costs and changing regulations, thoroughness are of utmost importance in medical
it is becoming more complicated than ever, adversely coding. Coders must have speed & attention to detail,
affecting revenues and cash flow for the providers. besides sufficient knowledge of human anatomy,
The weak outlook and lack of profitability distract them medical terminologies, & healthcare practices, to
from their core goal of delivering quality healthcare to effectively interpret the clinical documentation. They
the patients who rely on them. must have excellent analytical abilities to assign codes
consistently & precisely from the correct databases.
The outsourcing advantage Just like there are specialists & super-specialists
Outsourcing revenue cycle management is a healthy among doctors, the community of medical coders also
strategy in this situation, primarily because India, the have a system of specialisations and speciality-specific
Philippines and several other Asian economies can certifications to ensure accurate medical coding is
provide in-depth domain expertise, technical support delivered. The American Association of Professional
and staffing at a significant cost advantage. Healthcare Coders, American Health Information Management
providers can maintain a very agile organisation and Association & other bodies certify coders who have
achieve timely billing, increased revenue flow and better gained a certain level of expertise in the profession.
overall financial health. This clear value proposition
enabled the healthcare BPO industry to gain significant Opportunities for Coders
ground over the past decade in India. The revenue cycle The heavy demand for coders has also opened
management (RCM) professionals with US healthcare up opportunities for independent operators who can
expertise, including medical coders, came in high get work on a freelance basis. However, the high
demand. India has the highest number of medical level of data security, continuous skill enhancements
coders working in US healthcare, second only to the US. and intensive quality control protocols make well-
This is bound to expand in the coming years. structured organizations more favourable in the
market. New technology and remote working models
Medical Coding – Key link in the chain allow coders to practice their craft from anywhere in
Medical coders are analogous to interpreters or the world. Coders with 3-4 years of solid experience
language experts. In the healthcare revenue cycle can grow into auditors, team leaders and managers
world, medical coders help translate the language who supervise and maintain the service delivery and
of medicine into meaningful code sets critical to quality of a team of coders. Demonstrating one’s
reimbursement. They review the documentation abilities on all fronts is critical for growth, with career
on electronic health records, including the doctor’s paths extending all the way to top organisational
assessment, interpretations of the patient’s condition leadership lying open for the right talent. n
and derived treatment plans considering prior health
history. The medical coder reads the documentation
from the provider, understands each element of the
encounter to the most minute details, refers to the
codebooks, chooses the right standard codes from
the databases to describe every relevant point, and
reports the same to the payer.

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“Several companies have set up their R&D centres in India
employing large numbers of engineers and associates”

Ram Rangarajan, products that are making healthcare better for millions
Vice President, of people in India and across the globe. SGTC R&D
SGTC – R&D, has garnered a unique space among all R&D sites of
Stryker Stryker with established product development teams
for all Stryker divisions under one roof. The team is
Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical trained and equipped to identify the unique needs and
technology companies headquartered challenges of surgeons and healthcare practitioners
in the US, has opened its new research from various specialties to develop prototypes in a
and development facility, Stryker’s short span of time, get customer feedback and then
Global Technology Centre (SGTC), take the project into the development stage.
at the International Tech Park, Gurugram. The
150,000-square-foot facility is intended to accelerate What are the challenges facing the technology
innovation in India and globally, and further support workforce in India for the life sciences sector in
the company’s mission to make healthcare better. India? How can those be addressed?
In conversation with BioSpectrum Jobs, Ram
Rangarajan, Vice President, SGTC – R&D, Stryker There is no dearth of technological development
reveals more about the new centre and related job to strengthen the life sciences sector. The pandemic
opportunities. Edited excerpts; has brought the revolution to the lacklustre attitude of
healthcare sector with the adoption of newer and better
Please share more details about the Stryker technologies. Initially, the sector was apprehensive of
Global Technology Centre (SGTC) in Gurugram? adopting these technologies but later started investing
heavily in it to deliver state-of-the-art solutions to its
recently launched SGTC in Gurugram is a stakeholders. It is interesting to note that according to
testament towards our vision of making healthcare NITI Aayog, the Indian telemedicine market size is set
better in India. The 150,000 sq. ft. facility is one of the to increase from $830 million to $5.5 billion by 2025
leading strategic innovation hubs for Stryker that will growing at a CAGR of 31 per cent by 2025. There is also
develop and deliver innovative products and solutions a rising demand for medical devices globally.
for India and other markets globally. It houses over
25 state-of-the art product and clinical labs spread Technology remained the root cause of this
across a 45,000- square-foot area. The centre houses fundamental change in the life sciences industry. It
a world-class Neurovascular Innovation Lab that will is helping the industry in developing personalised
be the first of its kind in India. Besides this, it is USGBC products and conduct testing in innovative ways. As
(U.S. Green Building Council) LEED Platinum certified a result, technology is making the sector more and
and offers features for differently abled people. more efficient and provide improved patient outcomes
as well as employee experience. This pivot is also
What kind of expertise are brought in with the visible in the investment that the industry is receiving.
SGTC launch? In 2022, the investment hit an all-time high and is
expected to go up daily. R&D and innovation has
The SGTC R&D centre was established in 2006 acquired a renewed importance for the sector.
in Gurugram with a focus on accelerating innovation
and product development in developed and emerging Also, with the large number of engineering
markets. Since then, the SGTC R&D team has been graduates India produces each year from top
partnering with our different divisions to launch institutions, India has the potential to become a global
hub for R&D for medical devices. Several companies
have set up their R&D centres in India employing large
numbers of engineers and associates. Recognising
and incentivising this within the framework of Make
in India is key. Also, there is a great opportunity for
collaboration and partnerships with Indian institutions
- a strong funding mechanism becomes imperative
which can be achieved through capital subsidies and
tax incentivisation. n

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 15

“Biopharma Industry in India needs diversified talent
specialising in digital transformation & automation”

Cytiva, a global provider of technologies Benjamin James,
and services that advance and accelerate HR Business Partner,
the development of therapeutics, Asia-Pacific,
supports customers at every stage of Cytiva
biomanufacturing, from clinical trials to
commercial manufacture. At the same time, the we will be able to see the issue closer. The three talent
company is addressing the talent crunch within categories would include a) the ones who design
the biopharma sector. As an ecosystem builder solutions b) the ones who make solutions and c)
and industry leader, Cytiva has helped build a the ones who sell and service. Additionally, we have
very solid foundation of talent development for two groups of companies – a) manufactures and b)
India's biopharma industry. In conversation with suppliers.
BioSpectrum Jobs, Benjamin James, HR Business
Partner, Asia-Pacific, Cytiva shares more in this The ones who design solutions are part of
regard. Edited Excerpts; Research / Engineering / Digital arm of the company
and the competition for talent here is enormous. We
What is the current ‘Talent Crunch’ scenario in many a times need to apply the “BUY” strategy as
the biopharma sector in India? “BUILD” from within takes time.

Before we talk about “Talent Crunch in the The ones who make the solutions are part of
Biopharma sector,” we should talk about the changing manufacturing arm of the company. This is clearly
landscape of the biopharma industry in itself. an area where we lack exposure and capability. The
COVID-19 made it clear that biomolecules save the manufacturing hubs of India’s biopharma industry
world. Hence, the industry gained a lot of prominence exist in concentrated pockets today. This means
in the last two years. export of talent is limited by geographical location.
The exposure of talent to manufacturing processes
In India, healthcare has become the centre of has limited reach. On the contrary, today’s biopharma
government’s agenda. The budget allocation for health industry gains significantly from talent who have GMP
research in India has increased by 20 per cent. 22 per (Goods Manufacturing Process) experience. This
cent of this budget is allocated to research related to poses a real issue of manufacturing exposure and
biosecurity preparedness. Secondly, there’s a shift in ecosystem crunch.
the biopharma industry dynamics. With the approach
changing from “make in India” to “develop in India”, The ones who sell and service are part of the
there’s a stronger focus on collaboration and rural commercial arm of the company. This group is
areas. Finally, technology-backed transformation: the generally a tenured one, and show a lot of longevity
influx of new digital startup poses huge potential for with their current company. Talent exchange here is
transformation. limited.

The landscape we see above accentuates the With the rising demand in the biopharma
‘talent crunch’ scenario in India. sector, how can we manage this talent crunch in
India?
According to Cytiva’s 2021 Global Biopharma
Resilience Index, talent pool is the weakest pillar In summary, we have 3 different types of talent
globally in the biopharma industry. In the same vein, crunch in the biopharma sector a) talent supply
India scored 6.15 out of 10 in the talent pool pillar, crunch b) manufacturing exposure and ecosystem
making it one of the weakest results in Asia compared crunch and c) diversified talent pool crunch. To
to Singapore, South Korea, China, Japan and Australia. address the talent supply crunch, we should device
65 per cent of respondents in India have pointed out
that it is challenging to find R&D and manufacturing
talent in the country – with only 35 per cent & 41
per cent of them respectively thinking that it’s not a
challenge to recruit in those areas.

When we dissect the talent into three categories,

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a “Buy & Build” pipeline for the designer profiles. To What are the basic talent/skill requirements
tackle exposure and ecosystem crunch, we should for jobs in the biopharma sector in India?
apply a “Collaborate & Exchange” strategy between
industry. To address “diversification crunch”, We have to answer this in two ways.
we should scale partnership with academia to a) The requirement today for being an employer of
“Promote & Prepare” STEM enthusiasts towards the choice and b) the skill needs in Biopharma today.
industry. To be the employer of choice, we recognize that
there are 4 key requirements.
We also need to look at two ways of approaching According to a recent study by Mercer, we are
this strategy – what we can do externally for the living in an era of “Relatable Organizations.”. This
industry as an ecosystem builder, and what we can do means talent gets attracted to organizations that
internally as an employer to attract and retain talent. reflect their values. This is no different for the
biopharma sector.
India’s biotechnology industry, estimated to reach Secondly, people would like to work as partners
$150 billion by 2025, expects to see the number of rather than an employer-employee relationship. They
emerging biotech companies boom from 3475 to are exploring different work contracts (freelancing,
more than 10000. part-time, shared, full-time etc.) and work models
(onsite, hybrid, remote). We are glad to share that
To manage the talent crunch in India, the Cytiva has embraced the Future of Work in India.
biopharma industry needs diversified talent – not We have people who work in all three types of
only Chemistry and Biology graduates – but also work models – predominantly, 89 per cent of our
graduates specialising in digital transformation and associates are tagged as Hybrid, while only 3 per
automation. cent of our workforce in India are tagged as onsite. In
addition, 95 per cent of people leaders in India have
Another area where the talent inflow can be had 1-1 conversations with their staff on the Future
supplemented is through R&D and innovation. of Work and we see a higher index of happiness and
productivity.
To attract talent, Cytiva competes with other Thirdly, people prefer companies where “Wellbeing”
biopharma as well as digital players by showcasing is at the centre. The pandemic has proven that we
our strong commitment to inclusion and diversity. have transitioned from work-life balance to work-life
We’re proud to say that as at 2021, and globally, 40 per integration. Companies that have a caring culture and
cent of our individual contributors and 33 per cent of operating mechanism are more appealing. In Cytiva,
our people managers are women. we have several initiatives to cite around wellbeing

As a follow up to our comprehensive Cytiva Global
Biopharma Resilience Index launched last year, this
year’s study, which focuses on government policy
and regulation and its impact on the resilience of the
global biopharma system, revealed a bright spot in
India.

When asked whether government initiatives to
increase the pipeline of talent the industry needs
(for example via funding university courses, or by
adjusting labour regulations to allow us to more easily
recruit the talent we need), 18 per cent of respondents
in India, compared to 8 per cent throughout Asia
Pacific, are positive that it would increase to a great
extent. As an industry leader and ecosystem builder,
Cytiva has been supporting the Indian biotechnology
industry for more than 30 years through forging close
collaborations between the industry, government and
academia. For example, this year, Cytiva collaborated
with Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre to set up a world
class incubation centre to provide bioprocessing
training programs to support the start-up ecosystem
in India.

We are also evaluating various strategic locations
to expand our FastTrak presence and partnership with
biotechnology companies across India.

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at the centre. We have a dedicated taskforce driving  Automation and digital
agenda around “wellbeing”; our benefit program  Working GMP (Good Manufacturing Process)
touches all aspects of wellness – from mental to
financial; our policy is linked to wellbeing; our annual knowledge
engagement survey measures the progress on  System Integration
wellbeing. Most importantly the company openly
promotes “meaningful flexibility” as a culture. How is Cytiva ensuring that they are getting
the right talent as per international standards
Lastly, everyone wants to be associated with a within India?
company that creates an impact for generations to
come. We in Cytiva focus on this big time through our Cytiva India is a microcosm of global Cytiva. India
sustainability efforts. We have a three-pillar agenda houses talent across all functions – R&D, Digital,
around Planet, People and Foundation. What products Marketing, Sales, and Services. This gives India Cytiva
we make and how we make them are linked to our the unique advantage of hiring diverse talent group.
impact on the planet – for example, carbon emissions, Most of these talent work with global stakeholders,
plastics, water and also, on society. hence the hiring standards automatically level play
with international standards.
Skill needs in Biopharma today
As the Biopharma industry continues to evolve, Cytiva India’s R&D centre, founded in 2008, is a
it increases the demand to develop a pool of skilled world-class institution that now has 100+ scientists
workers. Process development and manufacturing and 110 patents. This is a flagship facility for
operations are two major areas of skill development attracting world-class talent.
in India. There is a growing focus on niche drugs for
smaller patient populations. The industry is moving Our associates in India are all working on global
from making one antibody with huge investment projects. For example, in 2020, our India R&D centre
in one plant to multi-product facilities. This change contributed to our global technology innovation – the
brings the need for new skills. They include, but are Xcellerex Automated Perfusion System for a more
not limited to: efficient manufacture of biotherapeutics.
 Technical support operations for both upstream
and downstream manufacturing Cytiva brings a strong focus on people through
 People who can facilitate both design and transfer process. There are several in-house learning and
process development programs to coach, train, mentor, and
 Large / Small scale column packing ultimately develop talent with opportunities that vary
 Cell and Gene therapy technology from on-the-job, classroom and community learning.

How is Cytiva using AI/ technology to train the
workforce in India?

Training personnel creates fundamental
challenges in bioprocessing. These challenges include
limitations in access to the equipment and trainers,
as well as global and regional barriers. In search of a
solution, experts at Cytiva have turned to virtual reality.

This virtual training platform reduces costs and
provides a more flexible training schedule and learning
environment to the workforce in India.

Although this example of how we leverage new
technology is not exclusive to India, this virtual-reality
system can train our customers in India without
having them shut down commercial production or
maintain equipment used only for training.

Besides training, another example of how Cytiva
uses technology to engage with incoming staff is
through the Enboarder onboarding app. The pilot
was launched in India to engage new joiners prior
to their start date. Bite-size onboarding activities
include introducing the new joiner to their manager,
introducing them to the company culture and asking
them about their concerns and what they like. n

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“Merck Life Science is expanding in India and also
hiring talents based on market & customer needs”

and hiring talents with these areas of expertise.

Dhananjay Singh, How has the hiring process in the life sciences
Head of Science and industry evolved owing to the pandemic? What
Lab Solutions, India challenges still exist?
at Merck Life Science
Skilled life sciences candidates are thin on the
Merck India which is a part of Merck ground at the moment. The skill sets required for the
Group continues to make long-term industry are not provided as a part of the traditional
investments in talent attraction, university curriculum. And that was the reason to bridge
development and growth. Dhananjay these gaps, actually Merck went ahead and established
Singh, Head of Science and Lab two Skill Development Labs (one in collaboration with
Solutions with over 25 years of experience in the Life CSIR-IMTech and other at Merck Jigani Site).
Sciences industry, in conversation with BioSpectrum
Jobs, throws more light on the job opportunities within What are your major expectations from
the Life Sciences industry. Edited excerpts; the government & academia to increase job
opportunities in the life sciences industry?
What is the current scenario of the Indian life
sciences job market? How is Merck contributing For India to produce industry-ready talent, the
to it? gap between academic curriculum and industry
requirements has to be closed which can be
The year that went by has been truly transformative efficiently achieved by periodically revising university
on various fronts and life science has been at the centre curriculums. The government, academia, and industry
of this transformation. As a pioneer in the life science will need to collaborate to work toward taking the
industry, Merck has reinvented itself time and time Indian life science industry to new heights.
again, over hundreds of years, and always remained
ahead of the curve. There is an array of opportunities Augmenting human resources with academic
that have been crafted to employ the people across reforms -the government should incentivise
the spectrum from data analytics, digital, e-commerce, the industry to take up projects with academia.
manufacturing, supply chain to adapt to ever-changing Academic–industry partnerships to not only do
scientific and economic situations. We have onboarded research but also churn out the best and brightest.
approximately 750 curious minds in India since the A cohesive environment with the implementation of
pandemic bringing diverse mindsets and inclusiveness new policies from education to financial services and
to deliver a win-win situation. regulatory systems supporting the establishment of
self-sufficiency and ushering in a new era for growth
What are the company’s plans in 2022 & in the industry will lead to increased job opportunities.
beyond in terms of hiring new talent in India, and
under what expertise? What are the new trends shaping up for job
opportunities within the life sciences sector in
Merck Life Science is expanding in India, and we India & globally?
are also hiring talents based on market and customer
needs. COVID-19 has brought few changes in the way As technology is ever evolving, it stands to reason
life science market and customers operates like hybrid the jobs in the life science industry today will evolve
working, data analytics focus, consultative approach as the pages of the calendar flip. With science and
and e-commerce. Merck is also training internal talents innovation growing at a much faster pace, a significant
increase in jobs in the life science sector is expected
in India and globally. As the learning curve steepens,
the harnessing of data is going to be critical to the
success of any new- age life science company and the
outsourcing of high-impact, niche jobs to India will pick
up. Other jobs of the future will also be incorporated
by the life science sector, particularly those positions
dealing with artificial intelligence & machine learning. n

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com THOUGHT LEADERSHIP 19

“Talent gap offers Indian healthcare workers
opportunity to establish careers in international markets”

The healthcare sector is transforming Alejandro Coca,
at an unprecedented pace in terms of Head of Business
technological advances and scientific at Trueprofile.io
research owing to the digital revolution and
the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Are Indian medical students skilled enough for
With a growing demand for healthcare workers, the international job opportunities? If not, where do
opportunities for the Indian workforce in the global we lack?
healthcare sector are immense. Skilling and sending
Indian healthcare & Medical workers abroad are a Indian medical talent is one of the most sought
way of boosting employment. Sharing his views in after, globally. This is why several Indian doctors,
this regard, Alejandro Coca, Head of Business at healthcare practitioners and medical professionals
Trueprofile.io interacts with BioSpectrum Jobs in secure jobs across various international locations. A
detail. Edited excerpts; career overseas helps the candidate develop cultural
competence. It expands the chances of meeting new
What career opportunities are in store for people and learning a new language. Furthermore,
Indian medical students globally? by interacting with patients and professionals from
different cultures and religions, the candidate can
There is a wide range of career opportunities learn new techniques and skills that might not be
for medical professionals and healthcare workers, possible otherwise at the workplace. Many healthcare
including doctors, laboratory technicians, nurses, professionals have been able to gain experience in a
pharmacists, and support staff, all of whom are different country and utilise this experience when they
essential in ensuring timely delivery and care for the return to their home country.
masses. When faced with a worldwide pandemic,
this vital workforce forms the backbone of our fight How can we ensure better upskilling of
against the virus. The Organisation for Economic Co- Indian medical students in order to contribute to
operation and Development (OECD) data from 2017 bioeconomy growth- for India & globally?
reveals that there were 69,000 doctors and 56,000
nurses from India working in the UK, US, Canada, and There is a need for revising curriculum in India to
Australia. Indian medical staff are among the most have more practical training, competency-based skill
sought-after healthcare professionals globally. With development and Industry academia collaboration to
urgent requirements throughout the world, Indian facilitate innovation. The World Health Organisation
medical staff can avail themselves of opportunities in predicts that by 2030 there will be a shortfall of
countries with advanced healthcare facilities, including more than 18 million health workers. Identifying the
UAE, UK, Ireland, and Saudi Arabia. healthcare sector as a major employer, the Ministry of
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announced
Are there limited opportunities for healthcare that it would be supplying 300,000 healthcare workers
professionals in India? to countries like Germany, the US, UK, Australia,
Sweden, Japan, and Singapore by 2022. With
A recent working paper by George Mason attractive salaries and the chance to work with leading
University’s Mercatus Center highlighted that professionals and modern amenities, the talent gap
compared to the world average of 150 doctors per offers Indian healthcare workers an opportunity to
100,000 people, India has only 86 doctors registered establish their careers in fast-moving international
for practice. The actual number of doctors available markets. n
for practice, as Basant Potnuru shows, is even
lower: we probably have only around 64 doctors per
100,000 people, well below half the world average.
There is a need to create more doctors, nurses,
hospitals and medical equipment stock not only
necessary for our health, but also for the economic
health of the country.

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“There is growing competition now between big
pharma and tech industry for high quality tech talent”

innovations available to patients who need them by
ensuring continuity of supply of medicines globally.

Sai Sethuraman, How many new job opportunities are being
India Head for Global provided at this centre, & under what expertise?
Product Development,
Pfizer Pfizer’s Chennai centre employs 250 scientists and
professionals from a range of scientific disciplines
In a significant move to bring critical research including formulation scientists and pharmacists,
and development (R&D) capabilities under one analytical scientists with expertise in process,
roof, American firm Pfizer has set up a global analytical and formulation medicinal sciences, life
drug development centre at the Indian Institute of science specialists such as microbiologists and
Technology (IIT) Madras Research Park in Chennai. biotechnologists, chemical engineers, data scientists,
With an investment of more than Rs 150 crore, this and program managers.
61,000 sq ft research and technology centre will
be a part of a network of 12 global centers set up What are the challenges facing the technology
worldwide, and it is the first and only one at present workforce in India for the life sciences/pharma
being set up by Pfizer in Asia. To find out more about sector in India? How can those be addressed?
this new development, BioSpectrum Jobs interacted
with Sai Sethuraman, India Head for Global Product The pandemic has helped to drive digital
Development, Pfizer. Edited excerpts; transformation and technological advancement more
forcefully in the healthcare and pharma industries.
How do you plan to enhance pharma Digital skill sets have become a ‘must have’ and there
innovation in India with this new centre? is a huge demand for tech-savvy candidates, who
have the required skills. As the gap between demand
Pfizer is the largest pharma anchored tenant in and supply for the tech-savvy workforce grows,
IIT Madras Research Park – amongst India’s top companies across industries are now competing for
university-based research parks and with proximity to the same talent pool. Furthermore, these skillsets are
a leading academic research institute. At the centre, transferable across industries further compounding
we have product innovation for global markets, sterile the problem of talent scarcity and not just for the
injectables finished dosage development, Active pharma and healthcare sector. We believe India offers
Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) development and a rich and deep talent pool, and an attractive mix of
analytical method development. The centre drives resources, knowledge, and capabilities that we are
data generation and analytical studies to help improve leveraging across our businesses, especially at our
our quality, efficiency and safety on both clinical global R&D centre in Chennai.
and environmental fronts. Product development
at the centre is integrated, which makes logistics We foresee a few challenges in finding talent to
and collaborative working easier. By bringing the manage emerging technological advancements such
development of APIs and formulations under one as the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI), and
roof, we will be able to speed up the journey from drug Big Data analytics. These can position the pharma
development to drug delivery, for the world and for and healthcare sector in direct competition with the
India, from India. In fact, the APIs and formulations technology industry. Tech savvy talent also has high
developed are used across the US, Western Europe, aspirations and catering to them may require big
Japan, Latin America, and Australia. In addition to pharma to collaborate with other industries to meet
driving innovation, the centre can also help make our their requirements. There is growing competition now
between big pharma and the tech industry for high
quality tech talent where a mindset shift has made
them more conscious of compensation. Therefore,
there is a greater need for industry-academia
collaborations to identify and groom talent in this
space, something that Pfizer has been spearheading
through its various efforts in the country. n

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com GAME CHANGERS 21

Evolution of Bengaluru’s
Biotech Ecosystem:
The True Game Changers!

In January of 2016, Government of India (GOI) Mittur N. Jagadish, PhD
announced under the banner “Startup India”,
several programmes and schemes to support n Former Head of the
entrepreneurs by creation of a robust startup Biotechnology
ecosystem to move India from a nation of job Facilitation Cell
seekers to job creators. In subsequent years, with the Department of
stimulus given by GOI, and also to emulate their sister IT BT and S&T,
state Karnataka which led the way, many more states Government of Karnataka,
& territories have released their own respective startup
policy documents along with several schemes. n President, IBioM
“Startup India” embracing all industrial sectors (Indian Biotech and
became the desire of the nation attracting thousands
of young people from within India plus many expats MSME Association)
of Indian origin from abroad to setup hundreds of
companies across the nation. Many foreign nationals Why and How Bengaluru - Karnataka?
also took interest in the vibrant startup ecosystem of
India and began to explore partnerships with existing Yes- It is Bengaluru, Karnataka, the city and the
companies or in setting up new ones. state to have led the way in a Game Changing manner,
Incubation Centres got set up in many cities, not necessarily with the intention of becoming job
Bengaluru leading the way in a wholesome manner, givers, per se, but more due to the realisation that
sponsored by the Governments, Central and State as innovation is critical to find answers to both prevalent
well as Private Companies, Banks and even Academic and emerging societal problems.
Institutions with the required infrastructure and
mentorship support. The state stood out providing directions and
Well, startups sprung like hot springs and the support through implementable schemes
biotech ecosystem continues to be hot, looking at the by releasing an exclusive startup policy
sustained funding support to new startups. StartUp document in 2015, well ahead of the
India applicable to biotechnology (BT), thus came as policy released by GOI in 2016. The
a breath of fresh air to many young job seekers, in aim of government of Karnataka
hundreds graduating with MSc or BE in biotechnology or GOK’s Policy has been “to give
and even graduates of IT Sector. wings to startups- old and new in the
As per one source, we have 5300+ startups state through strategic investment &
registered nation-wide, with Karnataka accounting policy interventions by leveraging
for 477 at 11 per cent share, with about 186 of the robust innovation climate
them established in the last two years. What has in Bengaluru, to address
been missing is elevation from ‘StartUps to become challenges, long prevailing
ScaleUps’ and MSMEs in the numbers required to or new ones.” The startup
address challenges!

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Policy of Karnataka was well complemented by the not just for Bengaluru, but for the entire country,
corresponding policies on IT & BT. Ahead of the rest at least in the broad sector of Life Sciences. There
of India, Karnataka in partnership with Department of are perhaps other early game changers who would
Biotechnology (DBT), GOI, introduced Biotechnology have performed significant roles in the evolution of
Finishing Schools (BTFS) in 2010-11 in recognised Biotechnology Ecosystem in Bengaluru. I sincerely
universities, to ensure Biotech Graduates were apologise for any omission!
industry ready or at least ready to work in startups.
The scheme continues under a new name termed Karnataka Incited:
Biotechnology Skill Enhancement Programme (BiSEP)
since 2017 in alignment with the National Vocational Karnataka, and in particular Bengaluru, had
Educational Quality Framework (NVEQF) of the NSDC always been Academic in its forte, with the
(National Skill Development Council). How did this era presence of leading scientific institutions such
of startup begin in Karnataka? as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc); National
Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS); National TB
The Early Game Changers: Institute; National Institute for Mental Health and
Neurosciences; Universities of Agricultural or Medical
In hindsight, Karnataka’s pole position, led by Sciences, and many affiliate colleges, with the only
idea of carrying out research and publishing findings
Bengaluru, appears more in leading journals of national and international calibre,
thus making a name for oneself leading to invitations
organic and strategic than to conferences.

serendipity. Quietly, seeds were It was a job to teach, research in pursuit of truth
and publish, whether it meant applicable or not to
sown for entrepreneurship in the challenges of the nation! Suitably supported by
Government funding, there was no real sense of topic
life sciences in 60s and 70s. prioritisation, protecting innovations, via Intellectual
Property Rights and monetising by commercialising
Thanks to the pioneers who novel findings. There was no major partnership with
industries. Just imagine, if Raman Spectra invention
undertook the risk. It was the of Nobel kind carried out in IISc was firmed up with its
IP secured, licensed to industries who manufacture
elderly Dr Manmohan Attavar in Raman Spectrophotometers!

1965 with his private set up of Perhaps, it is never too late in India!!! Following the
examples of USA, Europe and Australia, wherein, basic
Dr Manmohan Attavar Indo American Hybrid Seeds in research findings were being protected and monetised
bringing wealth and fame including Nobel Prizes to
Bengaluru, soon after his return their respective countries in the later decades of 20th
Century, India seemed to have awakened by the sound
from USA! Then, after a pause of the word “innovation” albeit louder in the second
decade of 21st century. Well, as the population
of 14 years, it was the young swelled and challenges intensified, solutions had
to be found and jobs had to be created out of thin
Kiran Mazumdar in 1978-79, air! Startups were the natural answer. The Pioneer
Game Changers had already sown the seeds of
back in Bengaluru, after her entrepreneurship decades ago in Karnataka and they
had quietly influenced a few with similar mindsets in
post-graduation in Australia in other States.

1975, who laid the foundation Subsequent Game Changers:

for the now world-renowned The next game changers in the evolution of the
Biotech Ecosystem, came in after a pause of 5-6
Biocon Limited! years, in form of an Institution this time, during the
years 1984-87, and as the early individual pioneers
Another pioneer Game (Dr Attavar, Kiran Mazumdar and Subhash Bagaria)

Changer Dr Kiran Mazumdar

ought

to be Subhash Bagaria who

initially worked as a distributor

for major international

companies specialised in

laboratory equipment, materials

and reagents, and then as

the Chairman of Millipore

Subhash Bagaria India. A serial entrepreneur, he

established Kemwell- a 100 per

cent contract manufacturing company for pharma

products in 1980. It is these three individuals, strongly

believed to be the forerunners of Bio-Agri Tech,

Bio-Pharma Tech and Contract Development and

Manufacturing, organisations respectively.

Inarguably, the three were the game changers

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com GAME CHANGERS 23

were working hard to establish Dr P Babu); XCYTON (set up in

entrepreneurship on their own. 1993 by Dr Ravikumar) being

Owing to the efforts of Dr the most prominent ones. A

S. Anand Kumar, a research quote in Dr Kiran Mazumdar

scientist then at the SUNY in Shaw’s book “Myth Breaker”

Albany, US and Ivan Ostholm, says: If the Indian Government's

a senior permission of 1985 allowing

Scientist Texas Instruments to set

Dr S. Anand Kumar in the up a development centre Dr P Babu

Swedish in Bengaluru – that directly

Pharma giant ASTRA, the transferred data to its

institution to be set up was headquarters in the US –

Astra Research Center India was a trigger of information

(ARCI). technology’s (IT) outsourced

Initially started in 1984 service industry in India, its

in a small lab of a true Ivan Ostholm permission to ASTRA in 1984

academic visionary Prof. was no less transformative

G. Padmanabhan, in the for the Biotech Industry”. ARCI

Department of Biochemistry, became the first example in Dr Ravikumar

IISc, ARCI eventually moved Bengaluru, perhaps all of India,

to its own building in 1987 to institutionalise or corporatise Biotech startups in.

in Malleshwaram, North Simultaneously, becoming aware of the enormous

Bengaluru. A famous potential the sector of Biotechnology has and not

statement made by the first leave India behind, S&T Leaders at the national level,

President of ARCI, Prof. J. began to move GOI leading to the establishment of

Ramachandran to the young The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in 1986 under

Prof. G. Padmanabhan researchers at ARCI, many of the Ministry of Science & Technology (DST), in New

them Delhi. The mandate of DBT being, administrating

who had come from other development and commercialisation in the field of

countries, was “…you must go modern biology and biotechnology in India.

out after five years and start a

company”! Last Crop of Game
Changers in 20th Century:
A guidance that was
Moving into the last decade of 90s, the small
seriously taken up by a few biotech community marked the arrival of Syngene,
(1993), another bold initiative of Dr Kiran Mazumdar
resulted in the genesis of 4 Shaw; Genotypic Pvt Ltd by Dr Raja Mugasimagalam
and Dr Sudha Rao (1998), and academician- led
startups, Bangalore Genei Pvt entrepreneurship in form of Avesthagen Limited
by Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell (1998) and Strand
Ltd., (Incorporated in 1989 by Prof. J. Ramachandran Life Sciences by Dr Vijay Chandu (2000) focusing
on Pharma Biotech, Genomics, Agri Tech, and
Bioinformatics respectively. The Game Changers
came in diverse forms and shapes contributing
varying experiences to the ecosystem, “what to do”
and more importantly, “what not to do,” that others
could learn from.

21st Century: Game Changers
Needed Government Support:

Looking at the huge potential of biotechnology as

the emerging sunrise sector, and early successes of

the above game changers, GOK, was compelled to put

24 GAME CHANGERS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

offered an opportunity to carry out focused research

and triggered young minds to explore translation of

R&D findings into products

and processes as solutions to

problems. Importantly, GOK

also enabled establishment of

Centre for Human Genetics led

by Prof. H. Sharat Chandra,

perhaps first of its kind in

out a policy document on Biotechnology in 2001 at the India, to address genetic

dawn of the millennium. Prior to this, GOK had already challenges in humans. Both

added the term Biotechnology (BT) to The Department Professors were rock-solid in Prof. H. Sharat Chandra

of IT which itself had taken its inception in 1998 from promoting intrapreneurship and

the Department of Commerce and Industry of GOK. entrepreneurship.

Thanks to Vivek Kulkarni, a visionary IAS

Officer Bureaucrat in GOK, a International Game Changers
in Bengaluru’s Ecosystem:
new department called the
Multi-National Corporations had taken note of
Department of IT, BT and the rapid progress, in Bengaluru, the soft and hard
machinery required for the success of the Biotech
S&T took its shape firmly Sector and thus bring answers to international
challenges in agriculture, health and industrial
in the government and only production. Novozymes (Headquarters in Denmark)
initiated operations in India in 1983 and became the
recently, the word Electronics largest supplier of industrial enzymes for house-
hold care and the required microorganisms for the
has been added reflecting the South Asia region. Astra Sweden, 1984 onwards, had
already done its fair share of commitment to establish
importance of convergence ARCI -Bengaluru, supporting research in the area of
infectious diseases, such as Malaria and Tuberculosis.
of diverse technologies to
On the agricultural side, Monsanto (USA; now
Vivek Kulkarni find solutions to complex Bayer) and its Indian Partner Mahyco Biotech, realising
the R&D capabilities and the high potential for new
challenges. technologies (rDNA and Genetic Engineering) in Indian
agriculture as well as the huge market size, invested in
In parallel, a Vision Group on Biotechnology (VGBT), setting up of Monsanto Research Center, in Bengaluru,
in 1997-98.
was catalysed by the department and this exclusive
The centre coincidentally was put up in the same
group was led by the ever dynamic and brave Dr Kiran campus in Malleshwaram, where, the earlier described
infectious disease R&D focussed ARCI was already
Mazumdar Shaw as the Chairperson. VGBT has in its located. Both international giants in their respective
fields achieved significant strides in Bengaluru; the
group experts from various domains of biotechnology former identifying new chemical entities to combat
malaria and tuberculosis, and the latter successfully
representing both academia and industry. Karnataka contributing to the launching of Bt Cotton in March
2002, the first GM Crop in India and for monitoring of
led the way by showing to the rest of India, the very crop diseases.

close association of an industry led VGBT and visionary As the new rDNA technologies arrived to identify
new genes beneficial to crops, and Bengaluru in
bureaucracy led Department of IT, BT and S&T, GOK, to particular, resistance to adopt and accept also grew
which at times turned violent originating in Bengaluru
strongly propel in a well-coordinated manner, the new and spreading to other parts of the state. To counter
this, an intense amount of science- based education
sunrise sector into 21st Century.

Game Changers Needed

Academic Institutional Support:

GOK put funds into action

by establishing highly focussed

institutions, viz., Institution of

Bioinformatics and Applied

Biotechnology (IBAB) under a

long-term guidance of Prof.

N. Yathindra in Bengaluru in

2001 and then transforming the

Department of Biotechnology

Prof. N. Yathindra that was already in existence

since 1998 in the University of

Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad, into Institution of

Agricultural Biotechnology (IABT), also in 2001. This

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com GAME CHANGERS 25

to farmers, students and policy needed information on happenings across India and
the world, at the click of a button or flipping pages!
makers happened in Bengaluru
The Genie Lamp was rubbed! Arrived our own
and around India, thanks to Bengaluru based BIOSPECTRUM. First published
in 2003 led by N. Suresh, it
the successful efforts of many was part of the Cyber Media
Limited until acquisition
especially, Prof. C Kameshwar by MMACTIV Sci-Tech
Communications which also
Rao and Dr TM Manjunath, publishes BioSpectrum Asia,
nuFFooDS Spectrum and
both Bengaluru based. AgroSpectrum. Science &
Technology Journalists grew in
This resulted in number serving the community. N. Suresh
The next major addition to this
overwhelming acceptance Prof. C Kameshwar Rao field is BioTecNika in 2006 started by Shekar Suman
and his sister Neha Suman, an excellent high-tech and
by farmers across India to friendly Biotech Portal live and visible for students,
faculty, industry and community.
cultivate Bt Cotton which
But who could track the changing
continues even today. In Ecosystem and its Game Changers?

parallel, the efforts spurred In the face of ever-changing officials and constant
changing of the names of the Departments in GOK,
many seed companies to responsible for spearheading
growth of Biotech Sector in the
explore new technologies state, there was one continuous
entity bringing, propelled by
resulting in several Agri-Biotech the Biotech leaders of KBITS
/ KITS (Implementing Unit
products, many of which are of the Department of IT BT
and S&T), the humongous
awaiting regulatory approvals. efforts of the governments
and others together under one Jagdish Patankar
On the manufacturing side, Dr TM Manjunath roof every year (for 25 years)
to showcase Biotech Karnataka to the rest of India
Kemwell, set up in 1980s in and to the world. That entity is MMACTIV Sci-Tech
Communications under the leadership of Jagdish
Bengaluru with technical support from a German Patankar- a permanent personality in the world of
Biotech in Karnataka, India and Asia, and his highly
Pharma Company, had already established long professional team.

term associations with international pharma majors

(to name a few, Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck

KGaA, Novartis, Pfizer) for small molecule contract

production.

Game Changers were
starving for an Association:

A lot was beginning to happen and thus badly
needed coordination for the Game Changers- old
and new, as a group to influence changes to the
Biotechnology policies at the state and federal level;
explore new strategies for research in India and, to
formally approach governments for help of all sorts.
Thus, an Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises
(ABLE) was born in the year March-April 2003, again
an initiative of the senior game changers. ABLE
became the enabler for further growth of all verticals
of Biotech Sector like Agri-Biotech; Health-Biotech,
Energy-Biotech and Environment Biotech. ABLE
opened up for membership and soon became a force
to reckon with! ABLE became the “Go To organization”
for Government Departments to facilitate the required
growth via partnering.

What’s Next- Game
Changers needed Journalism:

The ecosystem began to flourish with investors,
researchers and students looking for new information
including jobs! With so much happening in Bengaluru
and elsewhere in India and outside of India, the Game
Changers and others interested in Biotechnology,

26 GAME CHANGERS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Let’s Get Going with Biotech Clusters! C-CAMP was set up as a cluster, inviting
entrepreneurs to work with access to expensive
With all of the above in place geared up for a equipment, laboratories, academic and industry
mentors and human resources. Now part of
dynamic biotech ecosystem, rapid S&T advancement Bengaluru Innovation Cluster, C-CAMP is up and
running in a most impressive and sought-after manner
elsewhere in the world, national challenges continuing having sheltered and nurtured hundreds of Biotech
Companies. Breaking news is that, Incubated at
to prevail, expats returning to India with lots of energy C-CAMP, seven deeptech startups have raised more
than Rs 550 crore.
and the very high costs of Biotech R&D, the system

needed another look, a more drastic one!

That was catalysed by Dr MK Bhan (Former

Secretary of DBT, GOI). On one

of his trips to USA, at Chicago

and at The University of Iowa

around 2006-07, he bumped How about GOK Creating

into a system that displayed Bio Clusters in Bangalore- Karnataka?

a cluster-based cooperative With DBT of GOI showing the way for the impetus

approach to carry out the required to further grow Biotechnology in GOK’s own

highly expensive Biotech R&D. backyard, and with Bengaluru

Realising that Biotech in India already in a prime position

Dr MK Bhan requires of having a few champion

ocean individual entrepreneurs,

deep pockets to initiate the state government with

and sustain the innovation significant help from DBT-GOI,

momentum, he convinced Prof. and top GOK officials, MN

S. Ramaswamy from USA who Vidyashankar and ISN Prasad

was part of the IOWA Cluster to of the Department of IT BT and

return to India and help DBT set S&T, GOK, conceptualised a MN Vidyashankar

up cluster-based Ecosystem for state-of-the-art translational

innovation. Prof. S. Ramaswamy research and entrepreneurship

Dr Bhan championed Bio-Incubation Cluster.

for three clusters, one in Faridabad, one in Mohali A joint initiative between the

and one in Bengaluru. With state and central governments,

investment from DBT-GOI after several years owing to

and immense help from DBT various hurdles, Bangalore

officials, in particular Dr Renu Bioinnovation Centre (BBC)

Swarup (Head of BIRAC and took its place in Electronics

later Secretary, DBT), C-CAMP City, South Bengaluru in mid- ISN Prasad

was born in the campus of 2014. It just missed the name

NCBS in UAS-Bengaluru in change of the city from Bangalore to Bengaluru on

2009 becoming the second 1st November 2014. The strategic location of the two

Dr Renu Swarup institutional game changer clusters at opposite ends of Bengaluru, nevertheless

after ARCI. offered a choice to the job seekers to engage in

innovative R&D in either North or South Bengaluru.

Supported by GOK and members of VGBT,

BBC has graduated many startups and at any

given point of time has 30+ companies incubated.

Ably supported by the succeding governments of

Karnataka, the pioneering initiatives taken earlier

and the momentum gained thereof was further

accelerated by succeeding Principal Secretaries of

top most IAS Cadre (Srivatsa Krishna; V. Manjula; and

Gaurav Gupta of the Department of IT BT and S&T,

GOK).

Since the middle of 2019, the Department’s key

official who has been performing a significant role

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com GAME CHANGERS 27

is Dr EV Ramana Reddy, have triggered the minds to become independent
entrepreneurs. Such patterns of success were seen
Additional Chief Secretary, from other entities across the city & elsewhere in
India.
in continuously exploring
A Miracle: Birth of Hundreds of Biotech
new ways to find solutions. StartUps in Bengaluru & Beyond:

For instance, bringing in With one of the best Biotech Ecosystems of
the world in place in Bengaluru, arrived hundreds
Electronics as an additional of startups from all directions into the city beyond
also. It is too many to mention here and I submit my
domain to the Department regrets. With numbers growing beyond expectations,
the missing gap has been coordination to align with
thus setting an example for the the priorities of the state and the country. As seem
to be the case in general, only a national crisis seems
much required convergence Dr EV Ramana Reddy to bring communities together in India on fast track.
Post COVID-19 attack, startups of relevance worked
of domains and technologies, extremely well with State and Central Governments
as well as regulatory organizations, to stop further
essential for finding innovative solutions to the spread of the disease. The question is: Do we always
need to await crisis to respond in India?
impending and new challenges.
Societal Challenges and
With C-CAMP and BBC well established, in north Concerns in the startup Arena:

and south of Bangalore respectively, the bio cluster Despite the presence of one of the best biotech
ecosystems in place in Bengaluru and extending to
wave gathered speed resulting other cities across the State, as well as establishment
of several other such clusters elsewhere in India,
in setting up of many more many of the old challenges continue to prevail! Also,
new concerns spring up in all domains of biotech
clusters like IKP-EDEN, a relevant to provision of safer climate for communities-
humans, animals and environment included. For
brain child of Deepanwita example, biotic and abiotic stresses in key crops
of the state, prevention and management of rare
Chattopadhyay. Conscious genetic disorders; antimicrobial resistance, insights
from microbiome, development of informatics tools
of what must be done for the for linking human and animal diseases to carryout
surveillance for predicting emerging diseases, humane
growth of Bio Clusters in 2nd control of animal population in the streets of cities,
their safety and much more. There are clearly outlined
tier cities, the Department objectives in Biotech Policy Document version 3
released at BTS2017 but unfortunately, expiring soon.
of Electronics, IT BT and

S&T of GOK also started Bio Deepanwita

Incubation Centres in Mysuru Chattopadhyay

at CFTRI, Hubli-Dharwad at

UAS-Dharwad and Bagalkot at UHS-Bagalkot, relevant

to Food & Nutrition; Agriculture; and Horticulture

respectively. GOK’s projects of setting up of Marine

Biotech Cluster in Mangalore and Animal Biotech

Cluster in Bidar is awaiting more work.

Always, Success begets Success:

Built in humans, is the character of repeating
patterns with more patterns! Initial entrepreneurship
success with more success. For example, Biocon,
an early venture by its founder and the enormous
success overcoming hurdles, has set an example
to others from within Biocon or outside to repeat
success, albeit, in a varying way.

Many believed what the lady founder believed in,
that is Biotechnology entrepreneurship can transform
India. Societal Challenges in India are plenty. Taking
a cue from this, many employees moved away from
Biocon, with professional relationships intact, to
embark on their own journey of entrepreneurship.
Noted ones being Sea6Energy Pvt. Ltd., in 2010;
Affigenix Biosolutions Pvt Ltd., in 2013; and Anthem
Bio Sciences Pvt. Ltd., in 2016. There might be
more. While, ARCI as an institute inspired budding of
startups in 80s & 90s, Biocon as a startup company
itself stimulated many more in the new century. It is
the culture of intrapreneurship in Biocon that would

28 GAME CHANGERS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

On the face of these challenges, there is an Biotech Startups) with a membership of over 250,
overflow of startups in Bengaluru and elsewhere there are many instances, wherein the initial support
in India as the startup grants from governments, in offered by the State and other funding agencies has
particular GOK and GOI, keep coming in a generous not led many towards the next phase which is to be
manner every year amounting to several Rs 100 crore. ScaleUps! Bengaluru Helix Park (BHP) conceptualised
However, many who have boldly entered the startup by the Department of IT BT and S&T of GOK, in a large
arena, away from the traditional route of academics, area of real estate in Electronics City, that has been
have not got funding and are struggling for a career under its control for decades, has not moved forward
change. Many who have got grants are hoping for to facilitate larger scale bio-manufacturing. This is
lesser hurdles for timely flow of tranches of money. gloomy after having waited for many years and one
Biotech R&D laboratories cannot wait as several hopes for the best either there (BHP) or elsewhere.
experiments cannot be interrupted!
For efficiency driven innovation, funding
Most importantly, the startups who have graduated organisations must look into bringing together
with success partial or full, are unable to move up to multiple startups working on overlapping objectives,
the next level to ‘ScaleUps’ for on-field testing, be it for to achieve combined success. Larger funding in a
crops, or clinical trials of new compounds or vaccines continuous manner to a small group of converging
or enzymes for industrial applications. Because there startups instead of insignificant funding to too
is no State enabled infrastructure for medium to large many working for common goals. Governments
scale manufacturing at subsidized costs. A bottle in consultation with VGBT and DBT/BIRAC must
neck is being created with the crowding of startups prioritise national challenges, bring together startup
and no reliable avenues to move forward. GOK will do groups and allocate funding and disbursed in a
really well, if technology cells are established in each seamless manner.
of the science & technology application departments
promoting seamless interactions between domain IBioM: To this end, to enable further growth of
experts, in order to fast track application of
innovations by the startups. Biotechnology in the state and beyond as well as to
fill gaps where relevant, a new group called Indian
Challenges & Opportunities Galore! Biotech and MSME Association (IBioM), originating
from an informal Bangalore Biotech Startups (BBS)
With the impressive type of Biotech Ecosystem, was launched in the presence of several senior Game
Karnataka has set up, the present and future pain Changers, on 28th Feb 2021, at C-CAMP. IBioM’s
points of startups at the ground level must be intention is to work with the existing organisations
addressed quickly. As one of the founders of an such as, BIRAC of DBT, KITS of KTECH in GOK, ABLE,
informal Biotech Startup Group called BBS (Bengaluru BCIC and others to help steer the ecosystem to
scale taller heights and fast track towards becoming
MSMEs.

IBioM is a registered entity, operating from

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com GAME CHANGERS 29

Bengaluru with its own secretariat. IBioM started “By by hundreds of others interacting with the courage
Startups for Startups” has clearly outlined objectives of steel for the growth of the biotech ecosystem,
and welcomes individuals and companies for Bengaluru has become a force to reckon with around
collective progress. IBioM currently has membership the world. National and International migration to
of 43 companies and MSMEs and fast growing. Bengaluru has no bounds and means leading to
myriad of new challenges which of course requires the
Summary: attention of the governments and brave Startups.

Traditionally, an ecosystem is defined as a The new players need to deliver solutions to
biological niche of interacting players and their natural India’s numerous challenges and along the way
environment. This is exactly what was needed for become Unicorns. VCs and HNIs must have less fear
Namma Bengaluru, to lead the way for the Karnataka in funding early-stage Biotech Startups, as they are
and the India. Thanks to the early pioneers followed struck for funding and larger funding. Investing money
for long term societal benefits in form of healthy life
and environment must be understood by VCs, who are
generally looking for short term returns. Governments
must consider investing in downstream biotech
infrastructure to help StartUps to move to become
ScaleUps.

Security of Food, Health, Energy and Environment
can only be firmed up by investing in Biotech and allied
disciplines. Karnataka has led the way but must not sit
on its laurels as a few other states have caught up and
moving better with the momentum. BBS (Bangalore
Biotech StartUp) group working at the street level
for Startups and its official wing IBioM positioned
at an executive level are here to offer assistance in
a tacit manner for anyone and everyone which we
hope will lead them to ascending taller heights and
simultaneously bringing relief to the communities. n

30 INDUSTRY NEWS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

IIT Hyderabad announces MSc Programme in Medical Physics

Department of Biomedical specialist training in the concepts shadowing, Industry/ Clinical
Engineering, Physics, under and techniques of applying Lectures, Short term projects,
the aegis of the Centre of physics in medicine. Further, the and Clinical Internship (3rd Year)
Interdisciplinary Programme, programme intends to provide for 12 months (Mandatory for
Indian Institute of Technology Clinical Orientation for Radiation Certification) for the admitted
Hyderabad (IIT-H), is launching physics, Clinical immersion and students at BIACH&RI. The
an AERB (Atomic Energy students will benefit from the
Regulatory Board) approved academic acumen of IIT-H’s
three years Master of Science Faculty & Practical Expertise of the
(MSc) Programme in Medical BIACH&RI Team. This programme
Physics in collaboration with is ideal for BSc candidates with
Basavatarakam Indo American Physics as one of the main
Cancer Hospital and Research subjects and who want to make
Institute (BIACH&RI). The a career in applied physics for
programme aims to provide the prevention, diagnosis, and
world-class ‘Medical Physicist’ treatment of human disease.

Cliniminds builds SIRO Clinpharm
new opportunities unveils Clinical Research
for students in Institute to create industry
Health Science ready professionals

Cliniminds, a pharmaceutical and life Mumbai-based SIRO Clinpharm has launched SIRO Clinical
sciences skilling institute, has signed Research Institute (SCRI) to create CRO industry-ready
an agreement with Netaji Subhas professionals. With this initiative, the goal of SIRO is to give
Chandra Bose Cancer Hospital, back to the industry by revolutionising it with hand-on training
Kolkata to offer a wide range of clinical and creating professionals for pharmaceutical companies
research, pharmacovigilance, clinical and global contract research organisations, through cutting-
data management, business analytics, edge learning concepts, a strong curriculum, real-world case
healthcare data science, regulatory affairs studies, and soft skill development. Currently, the institute is
and several other job oriented skilling and offering the Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Research to
professional certification programmes.
Cliniminds job oriented eSkilling anyone who has a graduate or
programmes are certified by the Life post-graduate degree in areas
Sciences Sector Skill Development Council like Pharma, Microbiology,
(LSSSDC), Ministry of Skill Development Botany, Biochemistry, Chemistry,
& Entrepreneurship, Government of India. etc. The course is also open to
This partnership between Netaji Subhas anyone who has done MBBS,
Chandra Bose Cancer Hospital and BDS, BAMS, or BHMS. The
Cliniminds would create opportunities course has been divided into
for students from life sciences, medical, nine modules over 16 weeks of
pharma, nursing and biotech backgrounds in-person classroom training
and provide them with necessary and 4 weeks of on-job training under the guidance of skilled
employment skills Cliniminds has an SIRO professionals, covering all the aspects of clinical
excellent job placement track record and research which will equip the students to be industry ready.
has alumni of over 8,500 professionals. The programme is intended for recent graduates who want
to work in various areas of the clinical research industry,
such as Clinical Operations, Data Management, Biostatistics,
Programming and Medical Writing.

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com INDUSTRY NEWS 31

Absstem Technologies
invests Rs 30 M in new facility,
offering more jobs

Absstem Technologies, a fast- manufacturing, welding, brazing Pristyn Care
growing manufacturer of medical and metal cutting, glass industry, to increase
and industrial gas generators pharmaceuticals, refineries, and employee
in India, has launched a new the packaged food industry, strength by
business–Absstem Industrial among many others. Initially, 20 per cent
Solutions– that will be purely 20 devices will begin producing
dedicated to the industrial oxygen once a month. In total, 60 Gurugram-based startup
application of oxygen and machines will be fully operational Pristyn Care, the leading
nitrogen. The new segment every month. The new division healthcare provider, is
plans to delve into other will be headed by Amit Sahni as doubling its efforts to
gases shortly and is aimed at the Chief Executive Officer whose provide quality secondary
catering to the gas needs of wide experience in the industry surgery care. The company
industries. The company has will boost the goals and reach, has announced its plans
invested Rs 30 million in the while current board members of to increase its employee
new business, which would Absstem Technologies will also strength by 20 per cent
create more than 300 jobs over serve on the board of Absstem by 2023. Pristyn Care
the next three years. The new Industrial Solutions Pvt. Ltd. It is has already been hiring
business will serve industries headquartered within the same across departments such
like automobile, wastewater space as Absstem Technologies as medical operations,
treatment, air conditioning in Manesar, Gurugram. patient care and safety,
medical directorate, med-
TaCa Healthcare to hire more than tech, digital marketing,
400 healthcare professionals in India product development, and
technology. The next few
TaCa Healthcare, a Gurugram-based health-tech startup which is working months will also see 200+
to provide world-class surgery care at affordable rates to people across doctors, super-speciality
the country, has chalked out plans to hire more than 400 professionals surgeons, and medical
in the coming months. With a large network of hospitals and working experts being on-boarded.
with specialist doctors and healthcare partners in different cities, TaCa Currently, 400+ in-house
Healthcare implements proven innovations and best practices to deliver surgeons are treating over
better surgical outcomes, shorter 50+ diseases across the
hospital stays, and faster recovery country. Till date, it has
for patients. TaCa Healthcare is created 20,000 healthcare
already present in over 30 cities jobs, including nursing and
across the country and are providing paramedical staff in its
safe and affordable surgery care to empanelled hospitals and
thousands of patients. The startup clinics across 40+ cities. The
will be hiring 400-500 people in the company’s hiring plans align
next six months as it accelerates its with its mission to expand its
plans to strengthen operations in footprint and presence into
the existing and expand it to many Tier 2, and Tier 3 markets in
more cities and states in the coming India.
months. According to estimates, more than 12,000 startup employees
have been handed the pink slips in the past few months, and the number
is estimated to cross 60,000 this year alone.

32 INDUSTRY NEWS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

Access Philips recruits new
Healthcare talents for R&D facility in Pune
to hire over
18,000 Philips, a global leader in health the acquisition of 10 acres of land
people technology, recently unveiled the to build a new R&D centre to expand
conclusion of 7,200 sqm expansion innovation capabilities in Pune to
Access Healthcare, a in its factory in Chakan, Maharashtra. invest further in India. The current
leading provider of end- The state-of-the-art factory now Pune R&D centre supports global
to-end healthcare revenue houses a total floor space of 11,700 businesses for multiple product lines,
cycle and information sqm. Following the expansion, including image-guided therapy,
technology services, has the Chakan facility will carry out precision diagnosis and connected
announced its plans to manufacturing, servicing, and care. Philips hired over 3000
hire over 18,000 people repair of MR coils with significant employees in India in 2021 during
in the next few months. global capacity, and is already the second wave of COVID-19. The
The company is currently providing a large volume of coils at firm has already presented 1,400+
hiring across its locations the highest levels of global quality job offers during the first quarter of
in India – Chennai, standards. In addition to the factory 2022 and will continue recruiting
Coimbatore, Noida, Pune, expansion, Philips also announced talent in 2022.
Mumbai, and Trivandrum.
The healthcare BPO Omega Healthcare building
leader is hiring for more jobs in India in 2022
various positions
in Medical Billing, Omega Healthcare has announced its expansion in India with its
Coding, and Accounts recent plan to hire 4,500 professionals. The expansion is planned for
Receivable Call Centre operations across Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. The company
roles. The company has seen significant growth in the last three years, moving up from
is also seeking skilled 18,000 employees in 2020 to 26,000 in 2022. The technology-enabled
technologists to further
its R&D efforts in robotic service provider plans to further
process automation, strengthen its capabilities,
artificial intelligence, deepen domain expertise and
and advanced analytics build new solutions, by generating
to support its flagship employment not only in tier-I
platform, echo. but also the tier-II markets in
Fresh graduates and India that include Bengaluru,
experienced professionals Hyderabad, Chennai, Navi
are welcome to join Mumbai, Pune, Coimbatore, and
the Access Healthcare Trichy. As part of its expansion
workforce supporting plan, Omega Healthcare is inviting
100+ healthcare graduates from any field with minimal work experience to apply for the
institutions and 500,000+ 18,000 open positions over the next few months. The company’s strategy
physicians. The company for talent acquisition is to identify professionals who have the aptitude to
is hiring at the rate of recognise potential process improvements, bracket trends, and have strong
1,500 people monthly logical thinking and communication skills.
and investing significantly
in technology and
automation in hiring and
training processes.

COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com INDUSTRY NEWS 33

Aster DM AstraZeneca launches
Healthcare, iPHARMACY to up-skill
Government of pharmacists across India
Tamil Nadu provide
employment AstraZeneca India has launched its up-skilling programme for
opportunities pharmacists, iPHARMACY. In the first phase of the programme,
the company has partnered with Neethi, a Kerala state
Aster DM Healthcare, one of the cooperative consumers’ federation limited company, to run this
largest integrated healthcare programme in Kerala. As a next step, the company is planning
providers in GCC and India, has signed to collaborate with large pharma-retail chains from across India
a Memorandum of Understanding to expand this programme to other parts of the country. The
with The Government of Tamil Nadu,
India to set up healthcare facilities in programme will focus on
the State. The MoU was presented by inventory management,
Dr Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman good pharmacy practices,
and Managing Director, Aster DM customisation of pharmacy
Healthcare, who met M.K Stalin, for the patient of future,
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, during and management of
his recent visit to Dubai. The MoU pharmacy during COVID-19.
proposed an investment of Rs 500 The content and modules
crore in hospitals, pharmacies and for the programme are
laboratories in the State. This will created by the team of
help provide quality healthcare at experts from AstraZeneca
affordable cost to the people of Tamil and their partners, which
Nadu and generate employment for will equip pharmacists
more than 3500 people. Chief Minister across India to provide standardised and quality counselling, and
M.K. Stalin has encouraged the support to the people. AstraZeneca India has chosen Moodle
initiative and ensured support to the as the learning platform to run this course. The entirety of the
healthcare group. course module will take place digitally. The pre-requisite for every
participant would be to register themselves, and subsequently, a
unique credential would be created for every individual to run the
course. This e-learning mobile compatible programme has four
modules which can be completed at one’s own pace.

Thermo Fisher Scientific India gets
recognition as Great Place to Work

Thermo Fisher Scientific has once others, through a comprehensive more than 10,000 organisations
again cemented its place among assessment process to measure across the world partner with the
the best workplaces in India. For the employee satisfaction index. Great Places to Work Institute for
the fourth straight year, Thermo Great Place to Work Certification assessment, benchmarking, and
Fisher Scientific India has been is the most definitive ‘Employer- action planning to strengthen their
recognised by the Great Place of-Choice’ recognition that workplace culture.
to Work Institute (GPTW) for organisations aspire to achieve.
sustaining a High-Trust, High- The certification is recognised
Performance Culture. Over the last the world over by colleagues
three months, Thermo Fisher was and organisations alike and is
evaluated on various matrices considered the ‘Gold Standard’ in
that included credibility, fairness, identifying and recognizing Great
respect, and camaraderie, among Workplace Cultures. Every year,

34 INDUSTRY NEWS COFFEE TABLE BOOK 2022 | www.biospectrumjobs.com

SciGenom, CHARUSAT University
announce industry-oriented PhD programme

SciGenom Labs, a genomics participate in research activities while working in SciGenom. The
company with facilities in India with multiple international students should have qualified in
(Cochin, Chennai, Hyderabad) universities and scientists from one of the National Eligibility Tests
and the US (San Francisco), has independent research institutions for Junior Research Fellowship
announced a unique industry- to find solutions to real-world such as (NET-JRF) CSIR-UGC, DBT,
based PhD programme to support problems that plague humanity GATE and INSPIRE. The selected
research in the disciplines students will be registered with
of genomics, proteomics, CHARUSAT university while
microbiome and bio-nanotech working with one of the leading
in collaboration with CHARUSAT companies under the SciGenom
University (Charotar University group of companies. The selected
of Science and Technology), researchers will be provided with
Gujarat. This industry-academia an additional stipend during their
collaboration will provide PhD programme in addition to the
students with an opportunity to government fellowship.

Pfizer partners with UPES Dehradun, Wipro
Father Muller Research GE Healthcare launch
to create avenues for Biomedical Engineering
new research in India programme

Pfizer India has signed a Memorandum of UPES School of Health Sciences & Technology,
Understanding (MoU) with Father Muller Research Dehradun has signed an exclusive partnership
to strengthen evidence generation and encourage with Wipro GE Healthcare, to jointly launch the
young researchers to gather real-world evidence B.Tech Biomedical Engineering programme. The
(RWE) on drug efficacy and proven therapies from partnership aims to co-design and co-deliver this
existing Electronic Patient records. This evidence programme to students during their semesters
of study so that students who graduate here are
generation will focus on industry-ready from Day 1. Wipro GE Healthcare
prevention, treatment and will be setting up a state-of-the-art skill lab for
management of diseases students. Upon successful completion of the
that are of public health modules, students will receive a certificate of
priority in India, such as completion by Wipro GE Healthcare. Final year
cancer and cardiovascular students will be provided with an opportunity to
disease. The bespoke attend a 21-day advanced training programme at
fellowships will be a form of the GE Healthcare Institute in Bengaluru. Upon
recognition and will enable completion of the advance certification, students
young clinicians who want will also be provided with an internship within the
to pursue medical research healthcare industry, so that they are ready for the
to do so with clear goals job from the very first day and can serve as an
in place. Pfizer sees this as a long-term, academic asset to any healthcare employer. There will be
collaboration to promote high-quality medical research advanced ECG machines, precise anaesthesia
in the country. Additionally, through this collaboration, solutions, high-frequency X-ray machines and
Pfizer and Father Muller Research Center plan to build advanced simulation monitors that will offer
centres of excellence (CoEs) in rare diseases. students a unique learning experience.

BioSpectrum Jobs initiated surveys Scan the
with the mission of helping QR code
companies to frame the right
strategies, hiring plans, design to read
employee benefit programme etc. survey
results
Key takeaways of the survey:
• Health Science professional claims that

salary is the main factor affecting their
decision to choose another job
• Bonus structure must be based on their
own productivity rather than company’s
profitability.
• Employers should reframe their employee
benefit program to retain their talent as
only 15% of the respondents are fully
satisfied with their current Employee
benefit program.

"We Communicate
directly with
Life-Science
Leaders and
BioPharma
Executives
World-Wide"

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