BioSpectrum India April 2021

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4 BIO CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

EXCELLENCE 16 18
AWARDS JURY HEADED BY BIOSPECTRUM
DR RENU SWARUP HONOURS
2020 DECIDES THE INDUSTRY
WINNERS STALWARTS

20

KING OF VACCINES
PROTECTING CHILDREN
FROM BIRTH ONWARDS

LIFETIME “WE ARE GOING
ACHIEVEMENT TO CONTINUE
OUR WORLD
AWARD LEADERSHIP
IN VACCINE
MANUFACTURING”

22 BUSINESS
PERSON
OF THE
YEAR AWARD
Building on
Biologics
Business Growth

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIO CONTENT 5

PRODUCT INDUSTRY
OF THE RANKING
AWARDS
23 YEAR AWARD
TrueNat TB - 26 BIOPHARMA SECTION
Supporting TB
elimination programme INDUSTRIAL ENZYMES SECTION
in developing countries
27 BIOSERVICES SECTION
24
ROTAVAC 5D – DIAGNOSTICS SECTION

Protecting 28 BIOSUPPLIER SECTION
millions
against BIO INCUBATOR SECTION
deadly
diarrhea 29

EDITOR’S
CHOICE
AWARDS

25 ENTREPRENEUR 30 BIOSPECTRUM
OF THE
YEAR AWARD VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION

Wealth 32 BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020
creator for
investors BHUBANESHWAR BASED
PRIVATE BIOINCUBATOR
WOMAN
ENTREPRENEUR KIIT TECHNOLOGY
BUSINESS INCUBATOR
OF THE IS No 1
YEAR AWARD
BIOSPECTRUM BIOINCUBATOR
Techie
improving REGULARS

women’s BioEdit ............................................................................................06
lives and BioMail ...........................................................................................08
Policy and Regulatory News.......................................................10
health Company News............................................................................11
Finance News................................................................................12
Start-up News...............................................................................14
People News..................................................................................46
R&D News......................................................................................48
Academic News............................................................................49
Supplier News...............................................................................50

6 BIO EDIT BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

The vaccine roulette

With the fast-growing number of patients, the The government has apparently not released any
second wave of COVID-19 in India is equally data about AEFI investigations after February 26. It
scary as the first one. The only difference and is a well-established fact that vaccines are the only
that is an important one, between the two waves is that and most necessary solution in the current situation.
now the country has vaccines to fight the virus. So, as Its importance is underlined particularly with the
thousands of newly infected patients are getting added emergence of the second wave of COVID-19 since
each day since almost the first week of February, lakhs vaccines have provided only some relief to the people
are getting vaccinated also and all the frontline health despite growing numbers of COVID-19 positive cases.
workers have already been vaccinated, many with the
second dose also. Looking only at the positive effects of the vaccine,
and ignoring its negative effects is not wise. It is
Though large-scale vaccination is ongoing for those important to investigate every death or severe adverse
above 60, and above 45 with comorbidity, the vaccines event allegedly caused by vaccination. Making the data
appear to be plagued by new adverse information and public, particularly to experts, is crucial as it can reveal
issues about them. The media has reported cases of exactly which group of people, along with the particular
infection even in those who had taken two doses of the health conditions should avoid vaccination to prevent
vaccine. One such case is that of the retired Director of severe adverse effects.
Health Services of Maharashtra, who has written a letter
to authorities on the issue. Without any doubt, the Serum Institute, maker
of Covishield, is a world-renowned name in the
Severe side effects of the vaccines, particularly those field of vaccines. Bharat Biotech, too, is a big name.
allegedly leading to death, have come under the scanner Transparency in the matter of adverse reactions
of experts. Twenty-nine such experts including doctors, investigations is actually going to further strengthen
medical journalists, health right lawyers have written their reputation. This is particularly important when
to the Minister of Health demanding time-bound and the AstraZeneca vaccine has faced suspension in several
transparent investigation into deaths and severe adverse EU countries for some time following incidences of
effects after vaccination. In view of the controversy blood clotting. However, the European Medicines
about the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe where about Agency (EMA) has declared the AstraZeneca vaccine
40 cases of blood clotting following vaccination have as safe, since its benefits continue to far outweigh the
been reported, the letter has assumed much significance. risks.
Eleven countries from the 29-country European Union
(EU) bloc suspended AstraZeneca vaccination for some It is good that unlike the EU countries, the health
time when cases of blood clotting were reported. authorities in India did not suspend the use of either
vaccine following reports of adverse reactions. But at
The AstraZeneca vaccine is produced in India by the same time, any doubt in the people’s mind about the
the Serum Institute of India under the brand name safety of the vaccine should be deemed as a critical side
Covishield, which was the first vaccine to be authorised effect of the vaccine as well. There should be no room
for use in India. Covaxin, from Bharat Biotech, is the for doubt if people must decide to accept the vaccine
second one. without any hesitation.

Experts in their letter have said that they understood Investigating every adverse incident in detail and
that at least 65 deaths have occurred following the publishing the data, will help clear apprehensions.
vaccination drive that started on January 16 until mid- Moreover, along with transparency, the swift
March. However, investigation of only two deaths by dissemination of data-supported clarifications can
The National Adverse Event Following Immunisation restore people’s trust in the vaccination programme.
(AEFI) committee has been made public. It was
necessary to find out if there was a causal relationship Milind Kokje
between the deaths and adverse events and vaccination. Chief Editor

[email protected]



8 BIO MAIL BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Vol 19; Issue 3; March 2021 Congratulations for publishing a very informative
Acknowledgements magazine. It is imaginatively produced and
The cover story on Women looks wonderful. in-depth in coverage of issues. The cover
Bharat Biotech team appreciates it. story of the March issue was excellent. We, at
Agappe, always cherish our association with
- Muralidharan P, Hyderabad BioSpectrum.

The article on Women’s Day has come out so - Girish Menon, Ernakulam
well and very timely. Thank you for taking such Thank you for the nice article about Bio-Works in
initiatives to encourage women in the life sciences the March edition.
industry.
- Jonathan Royce, Sweden
- Rekha Bijoy Kumar, Mumbai The virtual function of BioSpectrum Awards
2020 held on March 12th was extremely well
Thank you so much for featuring our woman organised. It did give a feel of real attendance
leader at Premas Life Sciences in the March at site. We all at HiMedia enjoyed the award
edition. function.

- Aashi Gupta, New Delhi - Dr Girish Mahajan, Mumbai

Thank you very much on the diagnostic/medtech
ranking feature on Peerless Biotech.

- Mohan Kumar, Chennai

Vol 19; Issue 4; April 2021 MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications

Publisher & Managing Editor: South Region New Delhi INTERNATIONAL
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Publisher, Editor and

Exploring
RT-LAMP

10 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Telangana plans to strengthen biopharma industry

The government of Hub (B-Hub) as a
Telangana and Cytiva, a
global life science leader, Growth Phase Park
will work together to
open a new Fast Trak lab. to provide necessary
The city of Hyderabad
in Telangana, which has support to young
emerged as a leader in
pharmaceuticals and companies graduating
biotechnology, is well-
positioned to host such a facility. from incubation
The 10,000 square foot lab, to be
located in the Genome Valley, will stage along with this
accelerate and advance the local
biopharma scale up needs. With biopharma scale-up
over 800 life sciences companies
manufacturing facility

of about 200L to

nearby, the new facility will help help companies produce clinical
the area’s biotechnology hub
increase production efficiency, material (Phase 1 & 2). The scale-up
reduce cost and speed to market.
The government of Telangana facility will also provide training,
has conceptualized Biopharma-
which is a key requirement to

facilitate the growth of biosimilars

in the life sciences industry.

Health Ministry Centre launches
emphasizes on
communication disorders operational

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Belagavi Institute of Medical guidelines to
Sciences, Belagavi, Karnataka;
Minister for Health and Karnataka Institute of Medical address NAFLD
Science, Hubbali, Karnataka;
Family Welfare, recently, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union
and Sri Devaraj Urs Academy Minister, Health & Family Welfare
virtually inaugurated six new of Higher Education and has launched the operational
Research, Kolar, Karnataka. guidelines for integration of
‘Outreach Service Centres for The government intends to NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver
focus on early identification and Disease) with NPCDCS (National
Communication Disorders’ diagnosis of communication Programme for Prevention &
disorder and early intervention, Control of Cancer, Diabetes,
across the country by All thereby preventing further Cardiovascular Diseases and
deficits in speech, language and Stroke). The government is of
India Institute of Speech and cognition and facilitating the the view that existing NPCDCS
overall development of the child. programme strategies can easily be
Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru on aligned to prevent NAFLD through
lifestyle changes, early diagnosis,
the occasion of World Hearing and management of associated
non-communicable diseases as
Day, on March 3. The new well as NAFLD. The existing
non-communicable diseases
six Outreach Service Centres (NCD) programme’s strategies
can now be aligned to achieve the
are Indira Gandhi Institute of objectives to prevent and control
NAFLD with behaviour and
Medical Science, Patna, Bihar; lifestyle changes, early diagnosis
and management of NAFLD, and
Bidar Institute of Medical building of capacity at various
levels of healthcare for prevention,
Sciences, Bidar, Karnataka; diagnosis and treatment of
NAFLD.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com COMPANY NEWS 11

Fujifilm India unveils battery- Apollo,
powered portable X-ray device
Anatomiz3D
Fujifilm India has announced the launch of Fujifilm’s first portable
X-ray device that can easily be used in environments where space and to establish
resources are limited, providing quick and easy access to diagnostic
imaging through its lightweight, battery-powered PORTABLE Hospital
X-RAY UNIT FDR Xair XD2000. Fujifilm has created this new style
of ultralight, compact, portable, and 3D-printing labs
battery powered X-ray device to be
both functional and ergonomic with The Apollo Hospitals Group
a modern and stylish appearance and Anatomiz3D Medtech have
for usage in the various medical announced a collaboration for the
treatment settings ranging from design and printing of complex
patients’ homes, in elder-care implants. Apollo Hospitals and
facilities, in emergencies care Anatomiz3D would take the lead in
setups, at natural disaster a pioneering initiative to establish
sites, military field hospitals, Hospital 3D-printing labs in
sports medical facilities, coal India for 3D-printed implants
mines, veterinary applications etc., to serve patients with extremely that would enable doctors to
reduced mobility, thereby giving more freedom in X-Ray imaging by visualise and print implants
giving access to otherwise difficult scenarios. FDR Xair can be used for complicated cases. The first
in combination with Fujifilm FDR D-EVO II Flat Panel Detector for a of these would be launched
portable, high image quality, low dose X-ray examination. at Apollo Health City, Jubilee
Hills, Hyderabad. 3D-printing
AstraZeneca India’s NSCLC technology is transforming the
drug Tagrisso receives medical environment providing
marketing approval a fast, accurate and economical
solution to take medical care to the
patients of lung cancer, whose next level. As healthcare evolves,
tumour have specific mutation 3D-printing will play an important
called EGFR mutation and part of this future transformation.
who have undergone surgical The Hospital’s 3D-printing labs
removal of the lung tumour, has would provide medical 3D printing
shown to decrease the risk of services for better healthcare,
cancer recurrence by nearly 83 through the creation of anatomical
per cent in the ADAURA clinical models for pre-surgical planning
trial in early stage lung cancer and education, patient-specific
patients. Osimertinib is the first cutting and drilling guides, and
targeted oral treatment option to customised implants and implant
show such a significant benefit in moulds.
terms of cancer free survival in
AstraZeneca Pharma India has early lung cancers with EGFRm
announced that it has received positivity. Cancer spread to
marketing approval for Tagrisso the brain and other organs is
(Osimertinib) for adjuvant one of the important cause of
treatment after complete tumour recurrence in early stage lung
resection in patients with non- cancer. Osimertinib has shown
small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), to decrease the chances of cancer
whose tumours have epidermal spreading to the brain & other
growth factor receptor (EGFR) distant organs.
mutations. Osimertinib, a once
daily oral pill, when given in

12 FINANCE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Vidal Health Insurance buys Vipul Medcorp

Noida based Vidal Health Thus, it has added mover in making an international
Insurance has announced Oman to the existing markets foray six years ago. Vidal
the 100 per cent in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Health Group’s healthcare
acquisition of Vipul Vidal Health Group was an early management (non-TPA)
Medcorp Insurance in business segment also has
Gurugram. With this a large global network
acquisition, Vipul of providers to service
Medcorp will merge into customers in the Middle
Vidal Health, to create East. By bringing Vipul
one of the top three TPAs Medcare’s business under
(Third Party Administrator) in the Vidal Health umbrella, the
the country. The acquisition will
bring the entire Vipul Medcorp company will now have a strong
business under Vidal’s Umbrella. pan-India presence of customers
Vidal has also acquired Vipul’s and offices, which will allow it to
parent company, Vipul Medcare. service the customers’ needs even
faster.

Advent International Karnataka State
acquires ZCL Chemicals
for Rs 2,000 Cr budget charts

Parikh family, founder and promoters of Mumbai based projects with
ZCL Chemicals has announced that they have sold the
entire stake in the company to US headquartered Advent multi-crore allocation
International, one of the largest and most experienced
global private equity investors, for an equity value of BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister, Karnataka has
Rs 2,000 crore. Pursuant to the signing of definitive presented the state budget for 2021-22. The
agreements last month, Parikh family sold its entire ~80 government has announced that a Bulk Drug
per cent holding and has completely exited ZCL. Of the Park is coming up at Kadechuru Industrial
above, ~26 per cent will be transferred subject to the Area, Yadgir at a cost of Rs 1,478 crore with
customary closing conditions and receipt of all applicable assistance from the Centre. The government
regulatory approvals. Morgan Stanley Private Equity has also announced establishment of ICUs of
Asia, a private equity platform that acquired ~20 per cent 25-bed and 6-bed capacities in 19 districts and
stake in ZCL for Rs 150 crore in 2016, has also exited ZCL 100 taluka hospitals at a cost of Rs 60 crore in
for Rs 390 crore. The Parikh family facilitated a seamless the next two years. The government will also
exit to the private equity fund through this transaction. set up an anti-microbial resistance unit for
In 2008, the Parikh family had acquired ZCL from Zandu Rs 1 crore. Laboratories are also being set up
Pharmaceuticals at an equity valuation of Rs 12.5 crore, at Rs 10 crore to detect hereditary metabolic
resulting in a 160 times return in 12 years at the current diseases at Bengaluru and Ballari, to reduce
valuations of Rs 2,000 crore. the infant mortality rate. In addition, Rs
2 crore have been allocated for Tele-ICU
facilities. Karnataka government is also giving
equal attention to Ayurveda by announcing
the upgradation of the Ayurvedic College in
Shivamogga to Ayush University. To encourage
Ayurvedic medicine in veterinary science, a
new research institute is coming up at a cost of
Rs 2 crore at Veterinary College, Shivamogga.
The government is also aiming to reduce the
death and impairment caused by snake bites
to 50 per cent by the year 2030. An Anti-
Venom Research and Development Centre will
be established at a cost of Rs 7 crore.

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14 START UP NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

ShanMukha Innovations 4baseCare
designs COVID-19
mobile diagnostic lab raises $2M for

Named as Mobile Infection Testing and Reporting (MITR) expansion of
Labs, these vans are designed by the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) incubated startup ShanMukha Innovations and genomic tests
approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Being the first of its kind, this mobile lab is fully equipped with portfolio
BSL-2+ infrastructure and instruments including mini-spins,
vortex mixers, centrifuge, pipettes, and RT-PCR to carry out 4baseCare, an Illumina Accelerator-
sample collection, inactivation, RNA extraction and RT-PCR backed precision oncology startup
testing, which is considered the gold standard for the detection based in Bengaluru, has raised an
of the coronavirus. This is a 20ft container on a Bharat Benz investment of $2 million led by
chassis intended for sample and kits storage, biomedical investors Mount Judi Ventures,
waste management and master mix preparation. This unit growX Ventures, Season Two
can also function as an independent testing unit with the Ventures, First In Ventures and
recently launched CRISPR FELUDA test by Tata Medical and a few strategic angel investors.
Diagnostics, can be used for research purpose and vaccination 4baseCare aims to make precision
drive as well. oncology a standard of care in
Asia by increasing the utilisation
of genomic tests in oncology and
is working towards developing a
first of its kind, Indian population-
specific gene panel that will analyse
a large number of genes for cancer-
associated mutations to identify
optimal treatment options leading
to improved outcomes. 4baseCare
will utilise the funds for expansion
of the genomic tests portfolio and
for increasing its geographical
presence across Asia. Additionally,
it will also focus on strengthening
its R&D and operations.

Dozee launches contactless vitals monitor for hospitals

Dozee, a Bengaluru based the patient. The Dozee Pro also
startup working on contactless features an extensible platform
remote patient monitoring where it integrates with other
(RPM) solutions, has announced devices such as SPO2 sensor,
the launch of Dozee Pro, a ECG and temperature sensor to
contactless vitals monitor provide the entire suite of vitals
for hospitals. The Dozee Pro parameters including oxygen
features an AI-powered triaging saturation, body temperature
system that converts any bed and ECG. The Dozee Pro captures
into a step-down ICU in under 250 data samples per second and
two minutes and enables remote gives a reading every 30 seconds.
monitoring of patients outside Made in India, Dozee Pro has
of the ICU. Dozee Pro enables the continuous (more been launched with a 98.4 per cent medical grade
than 100 times per hour) and accurate monitoring accuracy after successful clinical trials conducted
of a patient’s heart rate, respiratory rate, and other with over 1000 subjects at the National Institute of
clinical parameters like sleep apnea, myocardial Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) and
performance metrics without coming in contact with Sri Jayadeva Institute, Bangalore.



16 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Jury headed by
Dr Renu Swarup
EXCELLENCE decides the
AWARDS winners

2020

BioSpectrum Excellence Awards which had been PARAMETERS FOR JURY AWARDS
presented for the last several years has earned
a reputation to be the most prestigious awards Lifetime Achievement Award
in the sector. One important reason for that, among ● Path-breaking activities and contributions to
others, is the transparent process of selection. The
personality and product awards are finalised by a the growth of life sciences industry in the past
panel of eminent juries. Unfortunately the awards three-four decades.
ceremony was not organised since 2014. ● Contribution to the evolution of the life
sciences industry in the country
When BioSpectrum planned to relaunch the ● Inspirer/influencer/visionary role
awards from 2020, it was decided to continue the
practice of setting up a jury panel to decide on Business Person of the Year Award
these awards. BioSpectrum first requested Dr Renu ● Performance of the organization
Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, ● Role beyond the company
Government of India, New Delhi to be the ● Key projects during the year
chairperson of the panel. She readily agreed to take ● New initiatives
the responsibility. With the consent of Dr Swarup, ● Influence on policy making/
other prominent personalities were approached to
be the members of the jury panel and they all agreed Fostering industry harmony
to it. However, only one person had to decline later ● Stature as a leader & visionary
as his other engagements clashed with the meeting
schedule. Entrepreneur of the Year Award
● Strategic steps that make the company stand
The final panel of jury consisted of Utkarsh
Palnitkar, Founder & Managing Partner, Aarna out in the crowd in the past two years
Corporate Advisors, US; Dr Gagandeep Kang, the ● Imaginative business plan which should have
then Executive Director, Translational Health Science
& Technology Institute (THSTI), New Delhi (she is innovative products and services
now Professor of Microbiology, at the Wellcome Trust ● Business results achieved
Research Laboratory, Division of Gastrointestinal ● Ability to raise funds
Sciences at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in ● Ability to attract top human talent
Vellore) ; Deepanwita Chattopadhaya, Chairperson
and CEO, IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad ; and Dr Product of the Year Award
Bhagirath Choudhary, Board member of APEDA, ● Revenue realizations from the product
Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Founder ● Uniqueness
Director, South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), ● Degree of difficulty in creating the product
New Delhi. ● Import substitution
● Export potential
As the juries were being approached with an ● Price competitiveness
invitation, the editorial team was already on its
job to prepare draft parameters for the selection selection of recipients during the previous years, the
of awardees and doing research for finalising editorial team was supposed to put forward names
nominations to be presented along with detailed of possible awardees before the jury members to
information of each nominee to the jury members. select the final recipient. The editorial team, as a
As per the practice that was being followed for the part of its regular work throughout the year, comes

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 17

JURY PANEL

Seen in picture from
L-R- Deepanwita
Chattopadhaya,
Dr Gagandeep Kang,
Dr Renu Swarup and
Dr Bhagirath Choudhary
& Utkarsh Palnitkar
(Above).

JURY AWARD WINNERS provided by the editorial team. They themselves
could add more names in the list for consideration
● Lifetime Achievement Award if they felt so.
Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairperson,
Serum Institute of India, Pune On February 20, 2020, the Jury members had a
meeting at Dr Renu Swarup’s office in New Delhi, in
● Business person of the Year Award the presence of the editorial team to assist them in
Binish Chudgar- Vice Chairman & MD, any information if needed, for face to face discussion
Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ahmedabad to decide the award winners. They went through
the names and information which was provided
● Entrepreneur of the Year Award on the basis of the parameters, before they began
Kavita Iyer Rodrigues, Chief Executive Officer, discussing the winners. During the discussion, jury
Zumutor Biologics, Bengaluru members expressed satisfaction over the nominations
provided by the editorial team through its research.
● Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award Regarding the information about each nominee, they
Dr Geetha Manjunath, CEO, clarified that they were depending on the information
Niramai, Bengaluru provided by the editorial team only and their decision
● Product of the Year Award making was based on that alone. Utkarsh Palnitkar
ROTAVAC 5D, Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad joined online for the meeting and given his valuable
suggestions in finalizing the names for the awards.
& TrueNat, MolBio Diagnostics, Goa
Very lively and balanced interaction among the
across various names, performances, actions, plans jury members not only facilitated a lot in reaching
and a host of various other information of different the result with consensus but also enriched the
companies and industry leaders & scientists. Using process through transparency. Transparency
the industry updates as their best resources, the creates trust and it goes hand in hand with collective
editorial team gathered the required information for intelligence, said American businesswoman Julie
finalising the nominations in each category under set Sweet and Egyptian scientist Rana el Kaliouby. It is
parameters. true in all the fields but more so in selecting winners
for awards. BioSpectrum India not only believed
Using that information, researching further and in it but also practiced it for the BioSpectrum
selecting from its research and information data, Excellence Awards 2020.
the team presented to the juries nominations for
each category with the information against every Dr Milind Kokje
parameter. Juries had one important freedom [email protected]
here. They were not restricted by only the names

18 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

BioSpectrum honours

INDUSTRY STALWARTS
It is time to celebrate the outstanding contribution
and achievements of the Indian Bio Sciences that we presenting are of three categories. We
industry leaders and organisations over the past have Editor’s Choice Awards – finalised by our
one year. BioSpectrum India, India’s leading life senior editorial board. There are 4 awards in this
sciences publication, felicitated them at a virtual category. We have Industry Ranking Awards. The
ceremony held on March 12, 2021 with participation rankings are decided based on the revenue of the
of over 200 industry leaders from across India. The companies in their respective areas. BioSpectrum
virtual award ceremony commenced with a panel has been doing the ranking survey since 2003. There
discussion moderated by Dr Manbeena Chawla, six categories namely – BioPharma, Diagnostics,
Executive Editor, BioSpectrum India on the topic BioSuppliers, BioIncubators and BioServices, with
“Will sharing COVID-19 vaccine efforts reap more 16 awards. Most importantly we have the Jury
rewards?” Awards. The Jury chaired by Dr Renu Swarup has
selected six awards under four categories namely
Welcoming the jury members, – Lifetime Achievement, Business Person of the
award winners, participants and year, Entrepreneur of the year and Product of the
sponsors, Ravi Boratkar, year. Sincerely I thank the jury members for their
Managing Editor and efforts that they have taken to finalise these awards.
Publisher, BioSpectrum These organisations and individuals, who were
India, MM Activ Sci-Tech chosen for the awards for their last year’s
Communications, New contributions and achievements have
Delhi said “BioSpectrum awards made names even during this time
as we know were constituted in of pandemic not only in India and
2003. Unfortunately the awards ceremony was internationally.”
discontinued in between. However we used to
receive queries and calls. Finally in 2019 we decided The Jury Award winners include
to keep up this good work and acknowledging, Kavita Iyer Rodrigues, Chief
appreciating and awarding the exemplary work of Executive Officer, Zumutor
individuals and companies in the respective fields Biologics, Bengaluru
with these awards. We were encouraged and pleased
when we approached Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, (Entrepreneur
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of the Year
of India, to chair the jury. She graciously accepted Award), Dr Geetha
to be the chairperson of the jury. The entire work Manjunath, CEO,
related to this awards was done a year before. Niramai, Bengaluru
The actual BioSpectrum Awards Ceremony was (Woman Entrepreneur of the
organised at The LaLiT Ashok Bangalore, on March Year Award), Binish Chudgar- Vice Chairman &
27, 2020. But due to COVID-19 pandemic we were MD, Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ahmedabad (Business
forced to cancel the ceremony. We hoped to do it Person of the Year Award), ROTAVAC 5D -
at a later date. However now we realised that it
will be a time for next year’s award. So we decided
to go virtually. One more reason to go virtually for
us is that as we learn from this pandemic and in
BioSpectrum India also we have seen / observed
that our reach through our portal, digital magazine
edition has enhanced many folds. Hence we
thought lets come to gather and do this programme
virtually.”

Speaking on awards he further said “The awards

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 19

Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad & TrueNat - MolBio Sharing his views, a
Diagnostics, Goa Product of the Year Award) jury member, Utkarsh
and Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairperson, Serum Palnitkar, Founder and
Institute of India, Pune (Lifetime Managing Director,
Achievement Award). Aarna Corporate
Advisors, US said
Congratulating all “Congratulations to all the
the winners Jury winners of the BioSpectrum
chairperson, Dr Awards. It was a pleasure to be on the jury and
Renu Swarup, deliberate on the candidature of such outstanding
Secretary, nominees. What the process provided was an
Department of excellent insight into the sector and what was
Biotechnology very evident was the tremendous growth that
(DBT), Government the sector has witnessed and the richness and
of India, New depth of the talent that we have. The remarkable
Delhi, expressed, perseverance, conviction and enterprise of the
“My heartiest nominees were extremely heartening. Whilst there
congratulations was some level of debate on the candidates given
to all the the numerous candidates that were present for the
awardees several categories, there was swift and unanimous
on this consensus on the lifetime achievement category.”

BioSpectrum Awards. It is such a pleasure Congratulating the
to be a part of a jury, which has selected winners, another jury
such eminent people, such eminent products member, Deepanwita
and technologies. I congratulate each of you once Chattopadhyay, Chief
again. I wish this was a physical event, where we Executive Officer,
could be together not just to congratulate you but IKP Knowledge Park,
celebrate the achievements which are so important Hyderabad said “The
but nevertheless my heartiest congratulations, selection is based on more of the
my compliments to BioSpectrum, their team for 2019 results. We had unanimous
having put this together. This is such a wonderful decisions on each of the categories of awardees. It has
way of recognising excellence and more so been a great experience and it wasn’t difficult for us
motivating others to get onto this very wonderful to arrive at the awardees.”
journey. It was such a pleasure to be with
all my colleagues on this jury, who spent a In his remarks, Dr Milind
wonderful time together going through all Kokje, Chief Editor,
BioSpectrum, Mumbai
the nominations. Let me tell you it was said, “I am very happy
a hard choice to make because all the to welcome you to the
nominations were so wonderful. I BioSpectrum Excellence Awards
think we have finally come up with 2020. I have mixed reactions
a very, very eminent list. We for this event as after a gap of
look forward to your continued nearly four to five years, we have relaunched the
contributions to this very BioSpectrum Excellence Awards. We wanted to have
important field.” the BioSpectrum Excellence Awards 2020 on a grand
scale but it hasn’t been possible due to COVID-19. Let
us hope that next year this is realised.”

Dr Milind Kokje thanked all the attendees, award
winners and jury members for their participation
and sponsors – Basel Area, Swiss and Eppendorf for
their support in making the virtual ceremony a grand
success.

In the coming pages we will be covering the
profiles of the jury award winners and photo gallery
of the award ceremony.

Prabhat Prakash

20 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

LIFETIME
ACHIEVEMENT

AWARD

KING OF VACCINES

PROTECTING CHILDREN
FROM BIRTH ONWARDS

DR CYRUS Son of a horse breeder, Cyrus
POONAWALLA Poonawalla founded Serum
Institute of India (SII) in 1966
CHAIRPERSON, in Pune when he was just
22 years and got married
Serum Institute of India, Pune to Villoo. Over the years, his passion
of offering affordable vaccines to the
world has motivated to build SII into
one of the world’s largest vaccine
makers. SII now produces 1.5 billion
doses of a range of vaccines annually,
including for measles, polio and flu.
With sales revenue of over Rs 5000
crore Serum Institute of India is
ranked as India’s No. 1 biotechnology
company, manufacturing highly
specialised life-saving biologicals
using cutting edge genetic and cell
based technologies, antisera and
other medical specialties.

“We are going to continue our world
leadership in vaccine manufacturing”

In 2004, BioSpectrum other entrepreneur, to reach We had to go and fall at the feet
awarded you with the real heights. After you get of bureaucrats in Delhi, which
Business Person of the year your first award you get very I am quite clear in revealing.
Award. The BioSpectrum motivated. I think that is a very But, things have improved a lot
Awards Jury chaired important message to younger from that time. The Narendra
by Dr Renu Swarup, entrepreneurs. And the journey Modi government is much more
Secretary, Department of becomes more challenging. dynamic, as they have given
Biotechnology, Government permissions and licences very
of India has selected you for Since 1967 you have built fast. This has helped Serum
the BioSpectrum Lifetime Serum Institute of India Institute to grow very rapidly in
Achievement Award 2020. brick by brick. How was your the last few years. We hope to
What is your reaction to this? journey so far? have a 50 per cent increase in our
turnover next year because of the
I feel very gratified that There were huge problems COVID-19 vaccine.
BioSpectrum once again in those days. Most of the
decided to give me an award companies in those days were We are going to continue
after the 2004 award, which getting electricity and water our world leadership in vaccine
started encouraging me like any through permissions and licences. manufacturing. This is a very

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 21

THE JOURNEY OF Rs 5 lakh or even less than that. testing of its life saving biologicals.
SERUM INSTITUTE The Serum Institute of India was Serum Institute’s commitment
thus set up in 1966. It commenced to global health is exemplified
While deciding ‘what next after manufacturing activities in late 1967 by significant investments in its
graduation?’ in the mid 1960s, with less than 20 staff comprising infrastructure. The production
Cyrus Poonawalla, who built a a team of scientists from Haffkine facilities are continuously upgraded
prototype for a sports car during Institute, who were experienced to ensure compliance with GMP
his college days and had an active in developing these biological regulations and have been
interest in the family breeding products. accredited by the World Health
establishment, inherited from Organisation, Geneva.
his father Soli A Poonawalla, was In 1968, Serum Institute rolled
looking for something to do for out its first product ‘tetanus LEADING PLAYER
the masses. During that time, in antitoxin’. With financial support
a socialist country like India, he from banks SII had expanded its SII is one of the largest suppliers
felt that Racing (King of Sports) capacity and rolled out many other of high quality, yet affordable
had no place in the future as an products including anti serum vaccines to over 170 countries
economically viable business career vaccines, diphtheria, tetanus and and it is estimated that about 65
to pursue. Meanwhile, a suggestion pertussis vaccines. From then per cent of the children in the
by Dr Balakrishnan, a veterinary onwards, for Serum Institute, world receive at least one vaccine
surgeon, who was a consultant for there was no looking back. As manufactured by Serum Institute
their stud farms, “Why not set up a India was completely dependent of India. International agencies
laboratory to manufacture tetanus, on UNICEF and imports for such as WHO, PATH, NIH, NVI/
antitoxin serum and anti-snake these products, Serum Institute RIVM and CBER/USFDA work with
venom serum from the discarded and its biotechnology products SII to develop vaccines against
resources of plasma?” became a (vaccines) made India self- Meningococcal A, H1N1 Influenza,
crucial catalyst for what was to sufficient in this sphere. Aimed at Rotavirus and other diseases.
come. These life-saving materials total indigenisation to make India
were, back then, in shortage achieve self-sufficiency in life saving Under his leadership and
in the country. The suggestion drugs at affordable and effective guidance Serum Institute of India
transformed into a concept which prices, SII has established the most continues to share its philosophy of
ultimately culminated into a small modern laboratories with high- care across many more shores by
biological unit to manufacture tech machinery and computerised producing vaccines that would be
serum with a capital of around equipment for the production and administered to up to 75 per cent of
new-borns of the world.

significant point. Serum Institute because we believe in it and so one prevalent now, there is a rush
should be able to achieve that does the staff. That is the key to and one has to be first to offer the
thanks to the dedicated and loyal having a vaccine company, by product. So, one has to be ahead
staff, who have helped me at retaining the confidence of the of time, as the chief of GAVI
every stage to overcome several citizens. explained recently when giving
difficulties. me the ‘Vaccine King’ award. This
UNICEF/ World Health philosophy, I have followed again
One of the main reasons why Organisations (WHO), who and again with great success.
Serum Institute has been able buy the vaccine from an Indian People have told us that we need
to become the world’s largest manufacturer and supply to 150 100 million doses of measles
vaccine manufacturer and countries all over the globe are vaccine. I had the courage to put
maintained that position is by happy to patronise our products. up and process a plant of 400
adoption of humanitarian values Keeping the prices affordable, is million doses. Today, all the 400
in business, and charging very a numbers game. There will be million doses have been sold
low prices, - ‘price of a cup of always a demand for vaccines, because of UNICEF and other
tea for a vaccine’. Otherwise, which is double or triple the countries rolling out decisive
companies used to charge higher supply. There are two advantages campaigns, including regular
prices for the BCG, tetanus and to that. Firstly, there’s multiple immunisation programmes,
other vaccines. This way, the cost reduction because of the which has been a great advantage
competition has been completely numbers. Secondly, when there to the company, keeping us ahead
eliminated. At the same time, we is a shortage, which is invariably of all competition.
have maintained high quality, taking place, epidemics like the

22 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Building BUSINESS
PERSON
OF THE
YEAR AWARD

on Biologics
Business Growth

BINISH CHUDGAR

Vice-Chairman and Managing Director,
Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ahmedabad

In 1990’s when Hasmukh K Chudgar, founder of Intas biosimilar in the EU.
Pharmaceuticals handed over the company to his Under his guidance and leadership Intas recorded
sons Binish, Nimish and Urmish, the company’s
turnover was less than $1 million. Today, Intas is a a revenue of Rs 708 crore in the biologics space during
$1.7 billion multinational organization rapidly rising 2018-19 exhibiting a huge growth of 60 per cent from
up the ranks across more than 85 countries. Following the last fiscal’s revenue at Rs 443 crore. Besides well-
their father’s footsteps and choosing to stay away from established domestic prominence, Intas is also present
the limelight the three brothers built Intas as one of in more than 80 countries worldwide with robust sales,
the leading multinational pharmaceutical formulation marketing and distribution infrastructure in markets
development, manufacturing and marketing like North America, Europe, Central & Latin America,
companies in the world. Today, Intas is growing at ~20 Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Asia-Pacific as well as CIS
per cent CAGR. Around 70 per cent of its revenues come and MENA countries.
from the international markets, particularly the highly
regulated markets of EU and US. At Intas, every day The product portfolio consist of 11 commercialized
and everyone works to create a world of good health, products, 8 rDNA products including 1 monoclonal
happiness and hope. antibody, and 3 plasma derived products. In addition
Binish has been successfully running the show at the company has 12 new products in its pipeline. Intas
Intas along with his brothers as the vice-chairman and has made a substantial commitment to its Biologics
managing director of the firm and is on the board of Business Unit in terms of creating R&D, manufacturing
28 other companies. Urmish occupies the position of and marketing capabilities for its biotech portfolio.
Co-Managing Director at Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. It is the first company to launch a biosimilar in EU
and Managing Director at Intas Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (Filgrastim & Peg-filgrastim) as well as the first
(a subsidiary of Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd.). He is also company to launch patented aqualip technology based
on the board of 10 other companies. Nimish, who is Co- delivery system in India. It is India’s first biosimilars
Managing Director at Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd, is also manufacturing unit to receive European Union - Good
on the board of 20 other companies. Manufacturing Practice (EU-GMP) certification for
All these achievements of Intas are just because the Drug Substance (microbial) and Drug Product
of the efforts of Binish Chudgar, who is always looking manufacturing facilities, attesting to highest quality of
to “what next” and has been instrumental in making manufacturing and quality systems. In addition to the
Intas a “future ready” organisation. A commerce EU-GMP, Intas’ Biological BU facilities are approved by
graduate from Gujarat University and MBA from S various other regulatory agencies such as ANVISA, GCC,
P Jain Management School, Mumbai, it was Binish MCC, Indonesia, etc.
who constantly pushed for tapping into the global
markets early. Around 1996, he set up a plant in Intas is one of the fastest growing Indian company in
Ahmedabad and it was around 2001 that Intas started the biosimilar space with 13 commercialized biosimilars
exporting to Europe. Binish has also been the one who including Docetaxel & Paclitaxel. The company also
spearheaded the company’s biologics strategy, which operates in the field of Plasma derived products and
so far, has worked well for Intas. Intas has the largest therapies with proven technical capabilities. The
commercialised portfolio of biosimilars in India and is current product portfolio has 3 products and there are
the first Indian pharmaceutical company to launch a several others under development. By continuing his
aggressive strategies and acquisitions, he is determined
to lead Intas amongst top 5 Indian pharmaceutical
companies.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 23

TrueNat TB - Supporting PRODUCT
TB elimination programme OF THE
in developing countries
YEAR AWARD

Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics has automated. It is designed for situations where there
developed TrueNat TB, a new molecular may not be electricity and where the need is for one
test that can diagnose Tuberculosis (TB) in test to be done at a time. The GeneXpert is designed for
one hour as well as testing for resistance to larger volumes and needs a reliable electricity supply.
the drug rifampicin. This test for TB uses a It was also taken up by the National TB Elimination
sputum sample taken from each patient. Only about 0.5 Programme after recommendation by the Indian
ml of the sample is required compared with about 1 ml Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Molbio Diagnostics
needed for the American GeneXpert machine. With this has received technical assistance and resources
test, samples can be tested as soon as a patient with from the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative
symptoms of TB is seen. As the entire set-up is both New Diagnostics (FIND) to help commercialise it. Its
battery operated and portable, it can be used in the development has been funded by Bigtec Labs, India.
most basic parts of the healthcare system. This is where
this test differs from GeneXpert, which is most suitable
for being used where several tests can be done at the
same time.

The standard smear microscopy test for TB has
limitations. It usually finds it difficult to diagnose TB
when the bacterial load is less than 10,000 per millilitre
of the sputum sample, giving erroneous negative
results for some patients. The TrueNat kit is ‘highly cost
effective’ as compared to the American GeneXpert. It
can be used in peripheral centres without an AC lab
and runs on a solar-powered battery. The GeneXpert
machine and the TrueNat machine are designed to be
used in different circumstances. The TrueNat machine
is more of a point of care machine, which is not fully

“TrueNat started as a dream 15 years ago to see how
high quality, molecular diagnostics can be reached
across the country right upto the first point of
contact at the primary level. Today TrueNat globally
is the only point of care real-time PCR platform
that is completely laboratory independent, portable,
battery-operated with room temperature stability, ready
to use reagents. TrueNat for TB has been validated and
endorsed by ICMR and WHO as a frontline test for TB
as a replacement for smear microscopy. TrueNat for
COVID-19 was amongst the first real-time PCR tests to
be approved by ICMR and since then has been at the
forefront of COVID testing in India. Today there are 3000
TrueNat users in India and there are 35 countries in
which TrueNat is being used for TB. In the coming years,
TrueNat is expected to play a very significant, dominant
role in the global molecular diagnostic segment.”

- SRIRAM NATARAJAN

Chief Executive Officer,
Molbio Diagnostics, Goa

24 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

PRODUCT ROTAVAC 5D – Protecting
OF THE

YEAR AWARD

millions against deadly diarrhea

Anew variant of rotavirus “Dr Maharaj Kishan Bhan was the one who isolated the strain
vaccine, ROTAVAC way back in 1983 in AIIMS New Delhi. The product has finally
5D, developed by arrived with almost 17-18 years of journey. It came into the market
Hyderabad based in 2015 and it was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bharat Biotech is safe Many markets said -20°C wasn’t good, we need to develop a 5D
and effective in the prevention refrigerated temperature and one multi-dose
of rotavirus diarrhoea. With its vaccine. We once again took up the R&D project.
commercial launch in December We brought it as a five degrees (5D) stable
2019, ROTAVAC 5D is the world’s formulation and we got almost eight patents
first and only liquid formulation around that. This product was launched by
with the lowest dosage form and M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India
can be stored at 2-8°C for up to 24 in December, 2019. There have been many
months. firsts for this product. This is a true public-
private partnership for the country. More
It is a monovalent vaccine than 65 scientists globally were involved in
containing a suspension of live, this project. This vaccine can be administered
naturally attenuated rotavirus to a baby as soon as it is born. We conducted
neonatal 116E strain prepared in clinical trials in eight different countries. The
Vero cells for the prevention of Gates Foundation supported us with $200
rotavirus gastroenteritis. Each million in funding for this clinical programme.
dose of 0.5 mL ROTAVAC 5D ROTAVAC 5D is the first multi-dose vaccine,
contains not less than [NLT] 105.0 which reduces the cold chain space and
FFU [Focus forming unit] of live also reduces logistics cost, therefore
rotavirus 116E and is administered making this an affordable vaccine. That
in five drops as a 3-dose regimen, speaks to what we can deliver to the
4 weeks apart, beginning at 6 world. India can innovate, India can
weeks of age. It is a unique rotavirus deliver to the world! ”
vaccine formulation that can be - DR KRISHNA ELLA
administered without a buffer. Low Chairman & Managing Director
dose facilitates easy vaccine logistics Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad
and cold chain management, aside
from low biomedical waste disposal
post-vaccination.

ROTAVAC 5D confers similar
clinical safety and immunogenicity
profiles when compared to the
WHO Prequalified ROTAVAC.
It is available in three different
presentations, single-dose vial/
pre-filled syringe and multi-dose
vial. The available presentations
and lowest dosage form make it
convenient and easy to adapt under
Universal Immunization Programs
(UIP) by countries. ROTAVAC 5D
presented in multi-dose vials results
in saving approximately $0.30/dose
in supply chain and delivery costs.
Over 25 countries have granted
patents for ROTAVAC 5D.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 25

ENTREPRENEUR Techie improving WOMAN
OF THE women’s ENTREPRENEUR
lives and health
YEAR AWARD OF THE
YEAR AWARD
Wealth creator for investors
DR GEETHA MANJUNATH
KAVITA IYER RODRIGUES
CEO, Niramai, Bengaluru
CEO, Zumutor Biologics, Bengaluru
Armed with a Masters in Computer Science
After earning an MS in Medical Microbiology (CS) from the Indian Institute of Science
from Manipal Academy of Higher (IISc) and a passion for research, Geetha
Education, Kavita Iyer started her career became part of a team at C-DAC which
as a scientist in Biocon in 2003. After built the first commercial supercomputer
working there for less than two years, she from India. During her career spanning 25 years with
worked as Process Development Scientist at Millipore HP and Xerox Research, she received international
and as Project Manager, Virus Validation- Biologics at and national acclaim for her innovations and
Avesthagen. Equipped with the knowledge of different entrepreneurial work. Meanwhile, she also completed
aspects related to biologics, the urge to become an a PhD in CS from IISc and a management programme
entrepreneur motivated her to start Inbiopro, a global from Kellogg’s School of Management, Chicago.
biotechnology enterprise in 2007 along with Sohang With the skills acquired from premier institutes and
Chatterjee. In 2010 Strides Arcolab had acquired 70 garnering technical experience working in IT research
per cent in Accel Partners-backed Inbiopro Solutions. and heading many innovative projects in Healthcare
This success encouraged Kavita to start Theramyt and Transportation, she turned entrepreneur in 2016 by
Novobiologics, a niche Biosimilar to the Biobetter starting Niramai Health Analytix. Under her leadership
development enterprise in 2012. and guidance, the company has raised around $7
million from investors and has developed a novel
Backed by industry experience of 12 years and breast cancer screening solution that uses Thermalytix,
deep domain expertise along with strong business i.e. machine intelligence over thermography images.
skills, Kavita, in 2015, started Zumutor Biologics The company has developed technology for non-touch,
focussing on developing targeted natural killer (NK) non-invasive breast cancer screening for women.
cell therapeutics. In a short span of time, under her Niramai claims it can detect tumours five years before
leadership, the company has grown to a 25-strong they can be detected using mammography. As said
science team that works seamlessly with a world- by Anna Maria Kinberg Batra, Prominent Leader of
renowned scientific advisory board with expertise in Sweden, Niramai has great opportunities to improve
immuno-oncology and clinical development. The women’s lives and health around the world, using
company’s assets include a pipeline of immuno- technology and AI.
oncotherapeutics molecules, two proprietary antibody
discovery platforms and a robust IP portfolio with a “The team is striving very hard to create this new
landscape beyond 2034. Zumutor had raised $4 million method of detecting breast cancer
in a very private manner using AI
(approximately Rs 28.65 crore at current images. So far we have 34,000
exchange rates) in fresh funding in screenings and about 15 cities,
2019. With this, the total funding 70+ installations working with Apollo
raised by Zumutor has hit $20 Clinic, HCG as well as screened
million. 2000+ outreach camps. Moving
forward we want to be established
“Zumutor is an immuno- in every city in India with partners.
company in the novel In addition, we want to take this
antibody space. We beyond India and are on our
have a novel platform way to get a CE mark, which
and antibodies in will enable us to go to
our pipeline getting Europe and several other
into various Asian countries and of
regulatory course to the US later.”
submissions
later this year.”

26 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

INDUSTRY
RANKING
AWARDS

BIOPHARMA SECTION

VIKRANT SHROTRIYA DR SD RAVETKAR

Managing Director, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, Pune
Novo Nordisk India Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru (Top Indian BioPharma Company Award)
(Top MNC BioPharma
Company Award) “The key driving factors for Serum Institute’s growth are, first is
quality, which is the DNA of the company. It is imbibed by Dr
“Millions of patients across India Cyrus Poonawlla. Quality systems are followed very strictly in
receive our therapy and benefit every small step in production or anywhere else. Innovation is
from it. It gives us a proud the key to success. It was realised by Dr Cyrus Poonawalla and
moment that we can add a now Adar Poonawalla, who is a visionary and because of that vision,
little bit cheer in their life and we have always invested in R&D, keeping our prices extremely
give them better control. Thank you low. It is what I personally call as an affordable innovation. I am
very much for giving us this honour very happy to inform that at present, under the leadership of Adar
and we continue our journey much Poonawalla the pipeline of new products is very rich and we expect
stronger in India.” to launch a couple of vaccine in the near future.”

INDUSTRIAL ENZYMES SECTION

MIKHAIL MENEZES KRISHNA MOHAN PUVVADA

Director- Technical, Regional President- India,
Rossari Biotech Ltd, Mumbai Novozymes South Asia Private Limited, Bengaluru
(Top Industrial Enzyme (Top Industrial Enzyme Company (MNC) Award)
Company (Indian) Award)
“We proud of the journey that as a company we have
“It is indeed and honour to taken in India over the last 35+ years and continue to
be recognised as one of the build on innovation like sustainability. I also think it is our
leading chemical suppliers responsibility for us to champion green and sustainable
in India by a group of such concepts in the Indian market. Showcase technologies that
esteemed peers and we hope have a positive impact on the environment thereby enabling a
to continue this performance in better place for our future generations. Collectively, I think it is
the years to come.” our responsibility to leave something for the next generation.”

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS 27

BIOSERVICES SECTION

PETER DEYOUNG JONATHAN HUNT AJAY BHARADWAJ

Chief Executive Officer, Managing Director & Chief Chief Executive Officer,
Piramal Global Pharma Executive Officer, Syngene Anthem Biosciences
Solutions, Mumbai International Ltd, Bengaluru Private Limited, Bengaluru
(TOP CDMO (TOP CRMO Company Award) (TOP CRISP Company Award)
Company Award)
“There are scientists every day “The company in the last 14
“Our values-driven to help our clients to develop years has moved to be the top
culture, patient and new innovative medicines. supplier of research innovation
customer-centricity The last year has seen the to the biopharmaceutical,
and focus on quality spotlight turn onto the life biotech and big pharma as well
are core to who we are sciences industry, a lot of focus as agro chem space. Today Anthem
and play an important role on science and its potential to employs 1400 people with nearly
in enabling this recognition. resolve almost urgent global 800+ scientists and operates two
Our capabilities is an health problems globally. The sites in and around Bengaluru and
innovative service provider scientific community across has moved from being just a paid
with a distinctive drug healthcare and the life sciences provider of services to actually a
product and drug substance industry has come together and name to be reckoned with in the
capabilities across demonstrated an amazing spirit CDMO space. Our success has also
geographies and across of collaboration to find ways to been recognised by the investors
the drug lifecycle enable address the global COVID-19 and leading business firms have
us to be relevant and serve pandemic. I am very proud of the valued Anthem at $1 billion. I would
innovator and generic drug small but important contribution say the company is poised for
companies worldwide.” that Syngene has made.” greater change in the coming years.”

VENKAT JASTI APURVA SHAH

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Founder & Director,
Suven Life Sciences Ltd, Hyderabad Veeda Clinical Research Limited, Ahmedabad
(TOP CRAMS Company Award) (Top CLRO Company Award)

DIAGNOSTICS SECTION

SURESH VAZIRANI

Founder Chairman & Managing Director,
Transasia-Erba International Group of Companies, Mumbai
(Top Indian MedTech Company Award)

“We are very proud that Transasia is India’s number one IVD company. We are able to make a difference to
healthcare with our team of 1200 people spread across India. We are happy that 50000 labs and hospitals are
using our products across the country especially in the small towns and villages where there is no other company
present. Our products and services have been benefiting more than 10 crore Indian every year. It’s not only in
India, our products and services are being used in more than 120 countries across the world. Made in India for the
world is truly happening. Jai Hind!”

28 BIOSPECTRUM EXCELLENCE AWARDS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

BIOSUPPLIER SECTION

AJAY KANDHARI ANIL KUMAR TIRUMALA AMIT CHOPRA

Managing Director, President- India, CMD and VP/GM,
DSS Imagetech Pvt Ltd, New Delhi Waters Corporation, Bengaluru India and South
(Top BioSupplier (Distributor) Award) (Top BioSupplier Asia, Thermo Fisher
and (MNC) Award) Scientific, Mumbai
Top Analytical Instruments (Top Analytical
Company (Distributor) Award) “Waters Corporation, for the Instruments
products and the solution Company (MNC)
“DSS management’s philosophy that we innovate day in Award)
has always been to be an employee and day out to solve our
company and it is so heartening customers challenges. “It is an exciting
and a proud moment for us to We take feedback from our time for us in
note that these very people have customers. Waters Corporation India and this
performed and excelled and propelled gets into R&D and develop the recognition is a
DSS to the top. A big thanks to all our products as soon as possible great testament to
customers who have reposed their faith to address the challenges the incredible efforts
and patronage in DSS. We as a company that improves their efficiency. put in by our team.”
shall continue to strive to provide the Waters Corporation plays a
best customer satisfaction, products and major role in Waters India’s
services for many more years to come.” success as well.

BIO INCUBATOR SECTION

DR JITENDRA KUMAR DR MRUTYUNJAY SUAR

Managing Director, Bangalore Bioinnovation Chief Executive Officer,
Centre (BBC), Bengaluru, Karnataka KIIT Technology Business Incubator,
(Top Bioincubator Award (Public Sector) Bhubaneswar, Odisha
(Top Bioincubator Award (Private Sector)
“We have become the largest bio
incubation hub in the country “ We promoted more than 120
with more than 100 startups startups and out of that 17 of them
physically located here. In addition have raised follow on funding from
to infrastructure, plug and play private investors, which is quite
facility that we provide, we also provide impressive. This ecosystem is also
mentorship, funding, networking, branding, supported by Startup Odisha, many of
all the services needed to take the our companies have been doing quite
incubatees to a level where they can find an well. We will work towards building this
easy exit or attract VC funding, that is what ecosystem in the east and north-east of
our function has been.” the country.”

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION 29

EDITOR’S
CHOICE
AWARDS

DR G. M WARKE

Founder & CMD, Hi Media, Mumbai
(Bio Supplier Industry Leader Award)

“Today biotechnology in India is growing very fast. Investments in biopharma and healthcare sectors are also
multiplying tremendously, resources, infrastructure has been trending upwards. As India has moved towards self-
sufficiency, the demand for lab equipment, medical and diagnostic devices, media, chemicals, reagents, have
dramatically increased. This positive shift has fuelled the growth of bio-suppliers in the country. Further driving them
to offer innovative solutions and products each passing year. At HiMedia, our DNA is to develop innovative products
and solutions across all business verticals, from microbiology, cell biology, molecular biology, chemicals and biochemicals.”

SWAPAN BHATTACHARYA

Managing Director, TCG Lifesciences, Kolkata
(Innovation in CRO Sector in India Award)

“Our current focus is to build an innovation centre in the US where we have set up a
subsidiary called TCG GreenChem. We will work with biotech industry, government of
US and other academic institutions primarily focused on trying to take drug molecules
as quickly into commercialisation as possible through application of automation,
green and new technologies and of course the expertise of very experienced and
well renowned management team. We are initially looking at working on several COVID
medications, new therapeutics as well as repurposing some existing ones and also other
antivirals. So our single goal going forward is to continue our track record innovation and
really help with developing unmet medical needs for the patient population at large.”

AMIT CHOPRA SUBRAMANIAM ALAGU

CMD and VP/GM, India and Director, West Pharmaceutical Packaging India
South Asia, Thermo Fisher (Top innovator for Biologics Packaging & Delivery Award)
Scientific, Mumbai
(Digital Media Disruptors in “Today we have a global presence of 50 locations and 25 manufacturing sites. In
Biotech & Life Sciences Award) India, we have been serving local markets since 1990s and further expanding with
an establishment of a manufacturing plant in three cities in 2014 and a digital
“It is an exciting time for technology centre, ATC in 2019. Committed to quality, collaboration, service and
us in India and these innovation, we focus on providing technologically advanced, high-quality integrated
recognitions are a great containment and delivery systems for injectable medicines. We will keep working by the
testament to the incredible side of customers from concept to patient and bring innovative products that promote
efforts put in by our team.” the efficiency, efficacy, liability and safety of the world’s pharmaceutical drug supply.”

30 BIOSPECTRUM VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“Co-operation amongst

vaccine manufacturers saves

time, efforts and resources”
Due to the urgent need for the vaccine, both
government and industry, have poured millions With more transparency, there is going to be more co-
into projects to create and test them. In addition, operation. There should be a common forum, which the
the Indian vaccine market, which is expected to reach Rs government is trying to establish for all manufacturers
250 billion by 2025, suggests that if COVID-19 is here on one platform to bring them together for the exchange
to stay and requires annual booster jabs, then it could of views. More co-operation is welcome in the scenario
be profitable for the firms that come up with the most of manufacturing as well as testing of vaccines as there
effective and economical products. As soon as more are a lot of tests involved. Testing of vaccines is a big
vaccines come on stream, in 2021, competition may issue, if that can be handled well, it can definitely help
well push prices lower. With so much at stake, will it be the situation.”
more rewarding for the industry to share their innovative
vaccine technology with others and work together or Reacting to the question Dr Raches Ella, Head Business
focus on a successful roll-out of their own products to Development and Advocacy, Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad
balance out their investments? said “I think there is a lot at stake at the moment. There
is already competition in India with Covishield and
To understand these issues, BioSpectrum India has COVAXIN marked at Rs 150, which does set a benchmark
organised a virtual panel discussion comprising Dr SD for other vaccine manufacturers to enter this field. If
Ravetkar, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, Indian vaccine companies are able to survive there should
Pune; Dr Raches Ella, Head Business Development be a certain amount of incentives for us to take those risks,
and Advocacy, Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad; Dr Vishal there are huge amounts of capital investments. These
G Warke, Director R&D, Cell Culture and Immunology, risks can be off set with the global demand for COVID-19
Himedia Laboratories, Mumbai and Dr Sriram vaccines as there is a huge demand to export as well. As
Natarajan, Founder, MolBio Diagnostics, Goa on March the months go by, our goal should be to work towards a
12, 2021. Moderating the panel discussion, Dr Manbeena universal COVID-19 vaccine that can not only combat the
Chawla, Executive Editor, BioSpectrum India raised a Wuhan variant but also figure out how to deal with the
question ‘Will sharing COVID-19 vaccine efforts reap Brazilian, South African, the UK variants as well.”
more rewards?’ to the panelist.
Talking on vaccine collaboration, Dr Raches Ella said
Responding to the question Dr SD Ravetkar, Executive “Making a vaccine requires collaboration. There is no
Director, Serum Institute of India, Pune, remarked, vaccine that we have developed on our own. It has always
“Any competition for any product means there has to be been through collaboration. Vaccines are very intricate,
a change in the pricing structure and luckily for India, I very difficult and very complex. So there is a need to
think the pricing is very low as compared to the entire collaborate and research is required. There needs to be
world for all the vaccines and also for the COVID-19 a fine balance between corporates coming together in
vaccine. We should not bother much about the cost of contract manufacturing. At the same time companies
the vaccine and with so many new innovative vaccines
that will come, pricing will definitely come down and the “This pandemic has created a big pool
dosage will also be less in this case. Game-changing is
happening in the case of vaccinology for the time in the of innovations, which can be taken
last fifty years. This is a very happening time for what is
happening currently.” forward into the commercialisation

Dr Ravetkar further said “Collaborations will phase. This is unprecedented now. The
always help as vaccine manufacturing is a very
complex procedure. If there is co-operation amongst entire healthcare industry is changing
the manufacturers, the same tests and research need
not be repeated leading to more transparency, which completely. Till last year India has
is happening, because of the government’s efforts.
been importing almost 80 per cent

of medical devices but today it is

changing significantly.”
- Dr Sriram Natarajan,

Founder, MolBio Diagnostics, Goa

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOSPECTRUM VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION 31

“Making a vaccine requires

collaborating possibly with public or academic collaboration. There is no vaccine that
organisations to innovate. It is a double-edged sword.
We should have both because it is quite important to we have developed on our own. It has
work on newer COVID-19 vaccines.”
always been through collaboration.
Sharing his views on the topic Dr Vishal G Warke,
Director R&D, Cell Culture and Immunology, Himedia Vaccines are very intricate, very difficult
Laboratories, Mumbai, mentioned, “It is the age of
collaborations and we have to leapfrog. Initially, people and very complex. So there is a need to
were skeptical about how vaccine development could be
fast-tracked and yet, maintain its efficacy. All this can collaborate and research is required.” - Dr Raches Ella,
be done if strong players work with each other and join
hands. I always tell people, competition and co-operation Head Business Development and Advocacy,
both have an equal number of alphabets in them. It’s
always best to co-operate, co-operation is better than Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad
competition and that is how we are going to join hands
and grow in a big way for our country.” “Collaborations will always help as

“In biopharma, there is a smart manufacturing vaccine manufacturing is a very
protocol where there are disposables with a small
footprint and flexibility. We can have the same complex procedure. If there is co-
methodology in vaccine manufacturing as well. This is
going to evolve very soon. It will be a big boon, it is going operation amongst the manufacturers,
to help the influenza vaccine because every year with
influenza, it is a game of catch-up as we haven’t been able the same tests and research need
to preempt and tackle it,” added Dr Vishal G Warke.
not be repeated leading to more
To a question on how does the future look for the new
players of the industry? Dr Sriram Natarajan, Founder, transparency, which is happening,
MolBio Diagnostics, Goa, said “The pandemic has been
a wakeup call to the healthcare sector. Both from the because of the government’s efforts.
industry point of view as well as the point of view of
healthcare seekers. A lot has happened in the last year. With more transparency, there is going
It’s amazing to see the kind of innovations that have
happened and the kind of efforts that have been put in by to be more co-operation.” - Dr SD Ravetkar,
one and all to fight the pandemic.”
Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, Pune
On a question on how prepared are we now for the
future? Dr Sriram Natarajan, said “This pandemic “BioSpectrum will organise
has created a big pool of innovations, which can be
taken forward into the commercialisation phase. This seminars both online
is unprecedented now. The entire healthcare industry
is changing completely. Till last year India has been and offline to bring all
importing almost 80 per cent of medical devices but
today it is changing significantly. There is a lot of stakeholders on a single
scopes, with tremendous opportunities for newcomers
to come in. The government has been very proactive, platform for the benefit
as they understand that we need to be prepared for
the future. We need to have health preparedness, with and growth of the
the opportunities will continue for a long time. It is
absolutely the right time for innovators to come in and industry.” - Ravi Boratkar,
take their ideas forward.”
Managing Editor and Publisher of BioSpectrum India,
In his closing remarks Ravi Boratkar, Managing
Editor and Publisher of BioSpectrum India, MM Activ MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications, New Delhi
Sci-Tech Communications, New Delhi thanked all
panelists for their valuable suggestions and assured them “It is the age of collaborations and
that BioSpectrum will organise seminars both online and we have to leapfrog. Initially, people
offline to bring all stakeholders on a single platform for
the benefit and growth of the industry. were skeptical about how vaccine
development could be fast-tracked and
yet, maintain its efficacy. All this can be

done if strong players work with each
other and join hands. I always tell people,

competition and co-operation both
have an equal number of alphabets in
them. It’s always best to co-operate, co-
operation is better than competition and
that is how we are going to join hands
and grow in a big way for our country.”

- Dr Vishal G Warke,
Director R&D, Cell Culture and Immunology,

Himedia Laboratories, Mumbai

32 BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

BHUBANESHWAR
BASED PRIVATE
BIOINCUBATOR

KIIT TECHNOLOGY
BUSINESS INCUBATOR
IS No 1

BIOSPECTRUM
BIOINCUBATOR

BioSpectrum Top BioIncubators 2020*

Sr. Name Location Inception Category Total
No % point

1 KIIT Technology Business Incubator Bhubaneshwar 2009 Private 76

2 Entrepreneurship Development Center (Venture Center) Pune 2007 Private 56

3 Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre Bangalore 2015 Public 43

4 Atal Incubation Centre Hyderabad 2017 Public 42
(Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology)

5 TICEL Bio Park Limited Chennai 2004 Public 42

6 C-CAMP Bengaluru 2009 Public 36

7 Crescent Innovation & Incubation Council Chennai 2019 Private 28

8 Savli Technology &Business Incubator (STBI) Savli (Gujarat) 2017 Public 23

9 ASPIRE BioNEST Hyderabad 2018 Public 22

10 Guwahati Biotech Park Incubation Centre Guwahati 2009 Public 13

11 BITS BIRAC BioNEST, BITS, Pilani K. K. Birla Goa Campus Goa 2019 Private 9

12 Manipal-GoK Bioincubator Manipal 2019 Private 8
(Karnataka)

* We have not covered some fo the leading BioIncubators as they have not participated in the BioSpectrum BioIncubator Survey 2020

BIOSPECTRUM BIOINCUBATORS
SURVEY AND METHODOLOGY

BioSpectrum India, a leading B2B media platform March 2021. BioIncubators shared information with us to the
in Lifesciences space since 2003 has re-launched extent it was possible by them.
its ranking special edition in June 2019 after gap of
2 years. In this survey we looked at BioIncubators # For all the ranking purposes we have taken four
(both private and public) spread across India based parameters - No. of incubatees joined, Funds raised, Space
on their achievements in the past financial year – 2019-20. available, MoUs signed by the BioIncubator with other
A detailed questionnaire (survey form) was sent to over agencies to attract enterprises/ entrepreneurs during 2019-20.
40 BioIncubators to capture the needed information for the We have considered the names of the BioIncubators who
year 2019-20 for the analysis. This was done during January – have participated in the survey, as we didn’t received the filled
in forms from some of other BioIncubators.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 33

BioSpctrum Top BioIncubators 2020* (Private)

Sr. Name Location Inception Category Total
No % point

1 KIIT Technology Business Incubator Bhuvaneshwar 2009 Private 76

2 Entrepreneurship Development Center (Venture Center) Pune 2007 Private 56

3 Crescent Innovation & Incubation Council Chennai 2019 Private 28

4 BITS BIRAC BioNEST, BITS, Pilani K. K. Birla Goa Campus Goa 2019 Private 9

5 Manipal-GoK Bioincubator Manipal 2019 Private 8
(Karnataka)

* We have not covered some fo the leading BioIncubators as they have not participated in the BioSpectrum BioIncubator Survey 2020

Bhubaneshwar based private BioIncubator, KIIT Technology Business Incubator leads the BioSpectrum
BioIncubator Survey in Private sector followed by Pune based Entrepreneurship Development Center (Venture
Center) (stands second) and Chennai based Crescent Innovation & Incubation Council (CIIC) (stands third).

BioSpectrum Top BioIncubators 2020* (Public)

Sr. Name Location Inception Category Total
No % point

1 Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre Bangalore 2015 Public 43

2 Atal Incubation Centre Hyderabad 2017 Public 42
(Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology)

3 TICEL Bio Park Limited Chennai 2004 Public 42

4 C-CAMP Bengaluru 2009 Public 36

5 Savli Technology &Business Incubator (STBI) Savli (Gujarat) 2017 Public 23

6 ASPIRE BioNEST Hyderabad 2018 Public 22

7 Guwahati Biotech Park Incubation Centre Guwahati 2009 Public 13

* We have not covered some fo the leading BioIncubators as they have not participated in the BioSpectrum BioIncubator Survey 2020

Bangalore based Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre leads the BioSpectrum BioIncubator Survey in public sector
followed by Hyderabad based Atal Incubation Centre (Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology) and TICEL Bio Park
Limited, Chennai (stands at second place) and C-CAMP from Bengaluru (stands third).

HIGHLIGHTS « « «

« Atal Incubation Private BioIncubators KIIT Technology
Centre (Centre for are leading the table of Business Incubator,
KIIT Technology Cellular & Molecular No of incubatees joined Bhubaneshwar with
Business Incubator, Biology) (AIC-CCMB), in 2019-20 category 90,000 sq ft leads
Bhubaneswar, Odisha Hyderabad leads the with Pune based the table of Space
leads the table in Funds table of Memorandum Entrepreneurship made available
raised in life sciences of Understandings Development Center for incubatees
space category with Rs signed in 2019-20 (Venture Center), for the year
32.57 crore in 2019-20 with 18 followed by attracting 73 incubatees, 2019-20 followed
as against Rs 25.45 C-CAMP, Bengaluru followed by C-CAMP by Bangalore
crore raised in 2018-19 with 11 MoUs from Bengaluru BioInnovation
followed by Chennai and Pune based attracting 41 incubatees Centre, Bangalore
based TICEL Bio Park Entrepreneurship and KIIT Technology with 60,000 sq ft
Limited which has Development Center Business Incubator, and TICEL Bio Park
raised Rs 27.02 crore in (Venture Center) with Bhubabeshwar Limited, Chennai
2019-20 and Bangalore 9 MoUs. attracting 37 incubatees. with 46362 sq ft.
Bioinnovation Centre
(Rs 15.13 crore).

34 BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

KIIT TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INCUBATOR (KIIT-TBI), BHUBANESWAR

01 KIIT Technology Business Incubator (KIIT-TBI), recipient of National
Award for TBI in 2017 is a non-profit Section (8) incubator established
in 2009, as an initiative of KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar.
The bioincubator has established BIRAC Regional Techno-Entrepreneurship

Promotion Centre (BRTC) in association with BIRAC, to promote

entrepreneurship and technology development in the east and north east

region of India. KIIT-TBI currently houses 86 startups in the life sciences

space within the available area of 90000 sq ft. The bioincubator has the

capacity to accommodate around 150 startups in total. During the FY19-20,

the KIIT-TBI raised funds worth Rs 32.5 crore in the life sciences space, with

majority funds flowing in through the government. For the future, KIIT-TBI

plans to set up the Bhubaneswar City Knowledge Innovation Cluster (BCKIC)

to establish inter institutional partnership, promote entrepreneurship,

industry-academic-public interaction and engage researchers across all

DR MRUTYUNJAY SUAR disciplines. There are also plans to establish Diagnostic Innovation Hub to

Chief Executive Officer promote next generation innovative diagnostic startups in the state.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT CENTER (VENTURE CENTER), PUNE

02 The Venture Center in Pune is the trademark of Entrepreneurship
Development Center (EDC). Started in 2007, it offers a diverse array
of services that are accessible to all innovators and entrepreneurs.
The center has also established a joint venture with BIRAC as the BIRAC

Regional Bioinnovation Center (BRBC) since 2018. A total of 164 bio-

incubatees were supported by the Venture Center in the FY19-20 through all

incubation programmes such as Resident incubation, Bioincubation, Social

enterprise incubation, Associate incubation, Eklavya etc. Out of 51317 sq ft

space available at the campus, 34481 sq ft is available for incubation. The

bioincubator raised around Rs 8 crore in the last fiscal in the life sciences

space. In addition, the total revenue generated by the center during the

FY19-20 was Rs 32 crore. For the future, the bioincubator plans to be the

organization that will be credited with creating a world‐class cluster of

innovative and knowledge‐intensive biotechnology and biomed businesses

DR V PREMNATH in the Pune region with a significant economic impact by 2027.

Founding Director & Secretary

BANGALORE BIOINNOVATION CENTRE (BBC), BENGALURU

03 The Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC) is an initiative of Karnataka
Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS), Department of
IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka with a liberal funding support from
Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. It is located within Bangalore

Helix Biotechnology Park at Electronic City, Bengaluru. Established in 2015, BBC houses

60 incubatees in a total space of 60,000 sq ft. During the FY 19-20, the incubator raised

funds worth Rs 15.13 core from the government. BBC also signed a number of MoUs in

the last fiscal namely with NITTE University, Mangalore; Manipal University; Sri Sri College

of Ayurvedic Science and Research, Bengaluru; RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru;

BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru; Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

and the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research (IIHR), Bengaluru. While BBC aims to

be the state-of-the-art Incubation Centre, its vision is also to create an environment that

is safe, promotes research and innovation. In order to achieve this, BBC has strategically

committed to an Integrated Management System (IMS), embracing the requirements of

DR JITENDRA KUMAR International Standards. BBC has entered initial stages of implementing IMS and hopes

Managing Director to achieve certification within next six months.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 35

ATAL INCUBATION CENTRE – CENTRE FOR CELLULAR & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, HYDERABAD

04 The Atal Incubation Centre- Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology
(AIC-CCMB) is a premier technology incubator supporting deep
science startups. Established at CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad under the Atal
Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog in 2017, this incubation centre has become

a hub for life-sciences and biotechnology startups and MSMEs from all over

Telangana and the country in a very short time. The bioincubator currently

has 24 startups within the campus that have the capacity to house around

40 incubatees. The FY19-20 saw AIC raising funds worth Rs 10 crore. For the

future, AIC plans to undertake a social innovation programme aimed towards

finding innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems

through Biotechnology interventions. The bioincubator shall be recruiting

5 fellows, who will get Rs 50,000 as a fellowship for 18 months and Rs 5 lakh

as kick start grant. AIC is also looking forward to the Technology Incubation

and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Supported by Ministry of

DR N. MADHUSUDHANA RAO Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to Foster Innovations &

Chief Executive Officer support startups working with emerging technologies in healthcare.

TICEL BIO PARK LIMITED (TICEL), CHENNAI

05 Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO) in
association with TIDEL Park Limited has developed TICEL Bio Park
Limited (TICEL) for providing infrastructure facility for Biotechnology
/ Pharmaceutical Research & Development activities at Taramani, Chennai.

TICEL Phase I comprising of 1,45,212 sq ft of built up space was developed at a

cost of Rs 54 crore and was operational from November, 2004. Subsequently,

TICEL developed Phase II at a cost of Rs 168 crore which was operational

from September, 2015. TICEL – Phase III Project was inaugurated on February

16, 2021. TICEL has attracted Biocon Biologics as an incubator in the park. In

addition, TICEL is operating the Bio Tech Core Instrumentation Facility (BTCIF)

with high sophisticated equipment at the low cost towards encouraging

the budding Bio-technology companies/professionals and motivating them

to grow well in their career. TICEL - BTCIF has supported new R&D projects

developed by the startup incubatees during the FY19-20. BTCIF facility plans

THIRU V. ARUN ROY to provide training to students on bioprocess and equipment operation at an

Chairman affordable cost and also intends to invite new R&D projects and scientists.

CENTRE FOR CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR PLATFORMS (C-CAMP), BENGALURU

06 The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), an initiative
supported by the Department of Biotechnology, is an enabler or catalyst
of cutting-edge research and innovation in the life sciences since 2009.
C-CAMP is also a member of the Bangalore Life Science Cluster (BLiSC),

facilitating Bioscience Research and Entrepreneurship by providing Research,

Development, Training and Services in state-of-the-art Technology Platforms.

Around 200 startups are currently associated with C-CAMP which has a total

space of 22000 sq ft available for the incubation purpose. The bioincubator

reached several important milestones with its multi-pronged innovation and

entrepreneurship programmes during the FY19-20. For the future, C-CAMP

will be expanding its physical incubation space to foster a greater number of

startups across different sectors like nutrition, regenerative therapy, rare diseases,

clean technology, maternal and child healthcare, industrial biotechnology,

animal & plant biotechnology, medical technology etc. The plan is to continue

DR TASLIMARIF SAIYED working in close collaboration with national and international partners to foster

CEO and Director more cutting-edge technologies for advancing human society.

36 BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

CRESCENT INNOVATION & INCUBATION COUNCIL (CIIC), CHENNAI

07 Crescent Innovation & Incubation Council (CIIC) in Chennai has
been established as a Section-8 not for profit company, acting
as a ‘One Stop Shop – Technology Business Incubator (TBI)’ for
startups. CIIC facilitates an entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem to

all the stakeholders including the students, faculty, industry, investors

and society at large. CIIC is recognised as one of the Incubators in Startup

India Hub and Institutional Innovation Council in Ministry of Human

Resource Development (MHRD) Innovation Cell (MIC). Started in 2019, CIIC

has established a 25,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility; housing 71 startups

in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Medical Devices, Agriculture,

Biotechnology, Edtech, Electrical Mobility, etc. During the FY19-20, CIIC

raised funding worth Rs 32 lakh. In the future, the bioincubator plans to

establish the first Bioengineering HUB (BioE-HUB) in India- A hub to unravel

bioengineering’s full potential. There are also plans to create a state-of-

M PARVEZ ALAM art Centre of Excellences, make International Collaborations, elevate into

CEO & Director Accelerator mode with a set target of housing 175 startups in 5 years.

SAVLI TECHNOLOGY & BUSINESS INCUBATOR (STBI), VADODARA

08 Savli Technology & Business Incubator (STBI) is set up within the
industrial estate of Vadodara with the vision to nurture startups
economy by facilitating support to budding entrepreneurs thereby
contributing towards strengthening the nation. Established in 2015, it is

spread across a space of 21000 sq ft with around 1409 sq mt available for

incubation purpose. Currently, the bioincubator has housed 24 incubatees

within its campus. The development of the National Initiative for Developing

and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) - Technology Business Incubator (TBI) is

under progress which shall increase the capacity to 100 more seats. During

the FY19-20, STBI raised approximately Rs 10.2 crore worth funding. For

the future, as the BIRAC-SEED partner, the bioincubator plans to actively

open more rounds for seed funding and invest in eligible startups. STBI

also plans to sign more MoUs with innovation ecosystem enablers, research

and academia fraternity, to encourage research commercialization and

DR SNEHAL BAGATHARIA technopreneurship. The bioincubator also intends to strengthen its support

Mission Director to startups with mentoring, funding, investments, scaling up etc.

ASPIRE-BIONEST, HYDERABAD

09 ASPIRE - Association for Scientific Pursuits in Innovative Research
Enterprises is a section-8, not-for-profit organization that manages the
innovation and entrepreneurial activities at the University of Hyderabad
(UoH) through incubation of startup companies in various disciplines of science

and technology, while BioNEST at UoH is a life sciences incubator, set-up with

the support of the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

Set up in 2017, ASPIRE-BioNEST currently houses 26 incubatees within a space

of 11500 sq ft allotted for accommodation. During the FY19-20, the bioincubator

raised Rs 2.75 crore along with signing few local and international MoUs. For

the future, the bioincubator intends to be the leading and most recognized

Life Sciences Incubator in the country by creating an enabling Entrepreneurial

Ecosystem in the University Campus. It plans to encourage students and

researchers through pre-incubation to become entrepreneurs; set-up a Growth

phase Research Park in the University; expand the services to pilot level for scale

SREEDHARA R. VOLETI up studies; achieve Self-sustenance in the next two years; and raise CSR funds

Chief Executive Officer and other grants for enhancing the facility and expanding the activities.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIOINCUBATORS SURVEY 2020 37

GUWAHATI BIOTECH PARK, GUWAHATI

10 Guwahati Biotech Park Incubation Centre (GBPIC), which has been set
up with financial support from the Department of Biotechnology
(DBT) in 2009, is currently functional from a temporary campus
of 20,000 sq ft located at IIT Guwahati. The setting up of GBPIC in the

permanent site of Guwahati Biotech Park is in progress, which shall be a

total incubation area of around 1,00,000 sq ft. The Business Enterprise Zone,

which will be the core facility of the Guwahati Biotech Park will serve as the

space provider to large biotech players keen on setting up manufacturing

or research facilities on long term lease basis. The development work of

the Business Enterprise Zone is also in progress. Business support facilities

like meeting rooms, auditorium, etc. would be provided to tenants of the

Park for smooth conduct of the business. The Park would be an integrated

self-sufficient business entity so that most of the support services are

made available within the park premises. At present, there are 8 incubatees

HEMEN DAS situated within the park. In the FY19-20, a total of Rs 47.46 lakhs was raised

Chief Executive Officer by the bioincubator.

BITS BIRAC BIONEST- BITS PILANI, GOA

11 BITS BIRAC BioNEST incubator, an initiative of Centre for Innovation, Incubation
and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS),
Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in
Health & Environment. BioNEST aims to help entrepreneurs to ideate, incubate

and accelerate their innovative early stage startups into successful ventures

through infrastructural support, mentoring, networking and business advisory. The

bioincubator brings entrepreneurs, mentors, researchers and academicians together

to create a vibrant startup ecosystem. During the FY19-20, the bioincubator raised

funding worth Rs 2.96 crore, along with inking few local and international MoUs.

With a space of 3500 sq ft available for incubation, the incubator houses 17 startups

currently. For the future, BioNest plans to expand the physical infrastructure and

increase sustainability by revenue through incubates, workshops and training,

equipment usage by scientists, sample testing, CSR support. There are also plans to

create a channel for different grants from BITS, PILANI Alumni & Industry, enabling

DR MRIDULA GOEL by getting Tax exemption certifications under 12A & 80G. It also plans to apply for

In-charge becoming an associate partner to BIG scheme of BIRAC.

MANIPAL-GOK BIOINCUBATOR, MANIPAL

12 Manipal - Government of Karnataka Bioincubator, Technology Business
Incubator, is an initiative by Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE)
and the Government of Karnataka to facilitate incubation of startups. Set
up in 2019, this incubation platform aims at upscaling innovations specializing in

technology, propelling innovative ideas towards product commercialization. At

present, the bioincubator is housing 22 startups in the life sciences space in the

available area of 8000 sq ft. During the FY19-20, the bioincubator raised Rs 2.38

crore worth funds, out of which Rs 2.23 crore was raised through the government,

while Rs 15 lakh came in through private sources. For the future, the bioincubator

plans to establish BioNEST from DBT-BIRAC for setting up an additional space of

10000 sq.ft. incubation and prototyping facility for Medical Device Development.

There are also plans to take projects under the Social Innovation Incubation

programme and support social entrepreneurship. The bioincubator intends to add

training programmes named Manipal Student (Early/Young) Entrepreneurship

DR MANESH THOMAS Programme and Manipal Student (Early/Young) Innovator Programme to develop

Chief Executive Officer entrepreneurial skills and develop the ecosystem.

38 SPONSORED CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Crescent Innovation and Incubation Council
to establish a “Bio-engineering” hub in India

Crescent Innovation Incubation Council (CIIC) of Education and has obtained the BAND A (6th-
is established as a Section-8 not-for profit 25th) rank in ARIIA (ATAL ranking of Institutions
company under the ambit of BSA Crescent on Innovation Achievements) in the category of
Institute of Science and Technology, CIIC acts as a “University & Deemed to be University” (Private/
one stop shop- Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Self-financed) and has received 5-STAR ranking in
for start-ups in areas of Life Sciences, Industry 4.0 Institution Innovation Council (IIC).
and emerging areas like 5G, Fintech, Mobility and
Transportation. CIIC is one of the fortunate incubators CIIC provides a launching platform for the start-
to be recognized by BIRAC Bionest in its first year of ups to showcase their products within the facility in
operation. various capacities. Zafi Robots, a product of Propeller
Technologies, which is responsible for ensuring
CIIC’s vision is to create impact for economic sanitisation facility in the COVID-19 period. This start-
development and community wealth by becoming a up was launched by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
University based Technological Business Incubator and was featured by many local and international
of Excellence rendering support to start-ups into media houses including the National Geographic
becoming a profitable entity and thereby transforming Channel.
innovation into scalable business models with high
productive impact. CIIC provides an office space and connect with
investors from the industry by way of smart capital. CIIC
Within two year’s progress CIIC has incubated 71 has partnered with leading social entrepreneurship
start-ups from student, faculty, alumni and external organisations like Wadhwani foundation; Social Alpha,
start-ups and has setup 14 Centres of Excellence. funded by Tata Trusts and Govt of India and many more
Around 33 start-ups are from the thrust area of Life of similar nature. In addition, CIIC has also collaborated
Sciences with sub sectors such as Agri-Tech, Med with Institutions like CII, Ministry of Education, under
–Tech, Bio-Industrial, Bio-Pharma, Bio-Energy, Bio- government of India’s ‘Innovation cell’, Tie Chennai,
Services. These Start-ups have devised 22 frugal Start-up India, etc. We also have a huge pool of mentors
solutions to fight against COVID-19 battle during the who have embarked on similar journeys.
2020 lock-down. A total grant of about Rs. 3.7 Cr was
raised by Life Science start-ups. Cell2cure therapies CIIC has also tied up with several international
Pvt Ltd and Dhanvantri Biomedical Pvt Ltd are BIG- associations from Europe and Middle-East. With
BIRAC (Biotechnology Ignition Grant) beneficiaries respect to scaling up and growth, CIIC incubates can
receiving Rs. 50 lakhs each. Cell2cure Therapies Pvt avail several lakhs worth of products necessary for a
Ltd also received Rs. 150 lakhs fund from ICMR. company to streamline their operations and market
them.
CIIC is the first incubator in TamilNadu to receive
17 IVP (Innovation Voucher Program) seed grants CIIC’s target is to establish a “Bio-engineering” hub
for start-ups offered by EDII-TN (Entrepreneurship in India, a hub to unravel bioengineering’s full potential,
Development Institute of India- TamilNadu) CIIC has elevate into Accelerator mode, incubate 175 start-
profoundly implemented and follows the National ups by 2025, expand nationally and internationally
Innovation Start-up Policy put forth by the Ministry through collaborations and create more state-of-the-
art Centres of excellence.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com Q&A 39

“We are now extending an arm in
recuperating all the promising startups”

« What are the major plans in line for 2021?

M Parvez Alam, CIIC’s vision is to create a Bioengineering HUB in Chennai
Chief Executive Officer since Tamil Nadu has always been a hub for engineers and
& Director, CIIC, manufacturers, for all sectors. Our goal is to set up various
Chennai interdisciplinary Centre of Excellences under CIIC umbrella.
We are exploring various common ground in international
M. Parvez Alam, CEO & Director of CIIC has 15 platforms especially in the Middle East, Europe, US and
years of Cross- Functional experience in R &D Canada for the benefit of our startups and their market
Strategy, Marketing, Programme Management expansion.
and Operations and was the Head – Corporate
Marketing in UCAL Group, a Tier 1 Manufacturer in How much funding has been gathered by the startups
Automotive, Aerospace and Defence domains with at CIIC & what are the expectations in 2021?
an annual turnover of $130 million with the facilities
in India, USA and Europe. Alam has 15 years of Ever since the Tamil Nadu Government announced the
Cross- Functional experience in Strategy, Marketing, EDIITN-IVP programme, which provides a seed fund of Rs 2
Programme Management and Operations. He has lakh and Rs 5 lakh, we have been working very closely with our
experience in handling programmes in Automotive & startups through mentoring, application process and regular
Aerospace domains and has spearheaded Bi-lateral follow-up. We are proud to declare that 17 startups from CIIC
research programmes with Spain and Korea. His last have received funds, which comes to a cumulative amount of
position was the Head – Corporate Marketing in UCAL Rs 55 lakh, the highest in the state. We have coincubated two
Group, a Tier 1 Manufacturer in Automotive, Aerospace BIG grantees and one of them is an ICMR grantee of Rs 1.5
and Defence domains with an annual turnover of $130 crore. Furthermore, through one of our Centre of Excellence
million with the facilities in India, USA and Europe. (CoE), the APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Innovation, we
In June 2018, he took over as the CEO of CIIC mainly provide seed fund of under Rs 50,000 to student startups for
because of his passion for incubating technology developing Proof of Concept (PoC)/ prototype completion.
startups and budding entrepreneurs. CIIC has incubated Since the COVID-19 lockdown has decelerated many startups’
71 startups within 2 years. Currently he is pursuing his growth, we are now extending an arm in recuperating
Doctoral Program in Business Administration from SP all the promising startups either through mentoring,
Jain Global School of Management, Australia. He is a industrial connections, providing internships, Raising
Certified Project Management Professional from PMI, private investments etc. CIIC will be extending the services
USA. BioSpectrum spoke to M Parvez Alam to find out of C-CAMP Office of Technology Transfer for the Chennai
about his future plans at CIIC. region in IP, Technology Transfer and Commercialisation in
CIIC under Centre for Technology Transfer CoE where we will
What have been the key challenges at CIIC? be supporting the Chennai region.

Any University incubator in its infancy stage goes through Which area is prospering most with startups?
certain common challenges like creating awareness in the
startup ecosystem, bridging the gap between academics CIIC is a BioNEST incubator funded by Biotechnology
and incubation, coordination and engagement of faculty, Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) with a well-
students etc. Yet CIIC within two years of operation was able established Biotechnology laboratory. As I mentioned earlier,
to overcome the situation by incubating 10 faculty startups Chennai is a boon for manufacturers and service sectors.
and 20 student startups. Of course, the lack of Incubator Similarly, since we are a technical University, today we
grant options to incubator less than two years remains a support various startups, who bring in integrated solutions
great challenge for addressing the sustainability of the first for Life Sciences for instance in Agritech, Medtech, Cleantech,
3-4 years of operational. Bio-energy, etc.

What are the major hurdles facing bioincubators and
Bioparks today?

Certifications, Clinical Trials and regulatory compliances are
the major hurdles for startups to reach the market.

Dr Manbeena Chawla
[email protected]

40 STATE SPECIAL BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Odisha- Destination
for Bio investments

Recognizing the potential, Government of Odisha has identified Biotechnology as a priority area
in its Industrial Policy Resolution and many other initiatives like Make in Odisha, Start up Odisha.
Odisha has now reached a cusp from where it can take a big leap and leverage its bioresource
diversity and knowledge base to make the state the destination of choice for investments in
Biotechnology sector.

The state of Odisha being the eight largest states Odisha’s Khandia estuary along Balasore coast due to
by area, one of the major maritime states the sandy beach and estuary environment is fertile for
and the fourth largest forest cover in India is horseshoe crab breeding. The crabs have evolutionary
advantageously positioned to harness biotechnology significance because it is one of the oldest marine
applications owing to its rich biodiversity and vast living fossils whose origin date back to 445 million
natural resources. Ideal climatic conditions and habitat years. Horshe crabs have tremendous applications in
for agriculture, and presence of a rich ethnic tribal biomedical research and pharmaceuticals industries.
culture offers opportunities for further development The blood of horseshoe crabs, which is blue in colour is
and provide impetus to the growing Indian economy. used to extract a chemical known as limulus amebocyte
lysate (LAL), which is used for detection of bacterial
Odisha has vast aquatic resources with 6.83 lakh ha endotoxins in medical applications. Certain properties
of freshwater resources, 4.18 lakh ha of brackish water of this crab’s shell are also being used for blood
and 480 kms of coastline, which exhibits varied ecology coagulation and to make absorbable suspensions.
and bioresources. The Chilika lake located between the
Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state is However, due to the high commercial value and
the largest coastal lagoon, in India and second largest because of habitat loss or alteration due to shoreline
lagoon in the world. This lake has characteristic of development, the population of these crabs have been
fresh water, salt water and brackish water creating on diminishing in recent years. Laboratory-based artificial
extraordinary environment to be one of the hotspot of breeding and larval rearing of horseshoe crabs would
biodiversity with ecology and bioresources. The lake help the perish ocean dwellers survive.
harbours more than 900 species of flora and fauna
and is home to many endangered species including the In addition to aquaculture, there is tremendous
olive ridley sea turtles, endangered dolphins offering scope for development of horticulture in the state due
tremendous potential to become an excellent center to the advantageous agro-climatic conditions and the
for biotechnological research and special attraction for recent drive by the Government of India under the
eco-tourism. National Horticulture Mission programme triggering
each and every state across the country to undertake
There is also very good scope for large-scale massive plantation programme including post-harvest
cultivation of seaweeds in the coastal water of Odisha. management and marketing of horticultural crops.
They are promising source for the production of However, there needs to be a paradigm shift in strategy
phytochemicals including agar, agarose, carrageenan to propel Odisha to national and international scenario
and algin. Besides, seaweeds farming offer employment in export of fruits, vegetables and floriculture.
to hundreds of people living in the coastal areas.
Further, the brackish water area of the state has been Furthermore, plant tissue culture can be used for
identified as suitable for prawn culture, which is conservation, micropropagation, and in planta over
definitely a source of wealth for the state. In addition production of some pharma molecules of indigenous
to human consumption, the shell wastes constitute of medicinal plants widely found in the region.
many commercially valuable products, such as, chitin, Approximately, 130 species of commercially relevant
calcium carbonate, proteins, and carotenoids, which medicinal plant species are found in the state. This shall
can be commercially exploited by scientific technology transform the state into a power centre in the field of
for enhancing productivity with greater emphasis to horticulture in coming years.
private entrepreneurs.
Orchids cultivation is also one promising, area
Another important biodiversity hot spot is them which will promote and conserve the biodiversity of
the state, besides promoting bio-entrepreneurship

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com STATE SPECIAL 41

to strengthen the bio-economy of the region. Out of “Odisha should focus on not
the estimated 1,200 orchid species in India, 129 rare only on bioresource based
species are reported to occur exclusively in Odisha. economy as it has several
Given an estimate of, “The Indian floriculture market unique species of orchids,
worth Rs 130 billion in 2017 and it is further projected medicinal and aromatic
to reach Rs 394 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 20 per
cent during 2018-2023 (according to a 2018 report of plants and other economically
Research And Markets),” the prospects of employment important bioresource.”
opportunities for many farmers and unemployed youth - Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo,
through orchids as a trade is huge. Vice Chancellor, FM University, Balasore

It is in this context; Odisha has huge potential to “Odisha is going to be
emerge as a destination for Biotechnology innovation the next Biotechnology
not just in the country but also globally by harnessing innovation HUB of India
its natural bioresources and leveraging the strong especially in the sector of
knowledgebase of the state comprising of several diagnostics, agri-biotech,
leading academic and research Institutions of phytopharmaceuticals.”
Bhubaneswar including Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology (KIIT), Indian Institutes of Technology - Dr Mrutyunjay Suar,
(IIT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Director General of R&D, KIIT University and CEO,
-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology KIIT Technology Business Incubator, Bhubaneswar
((CSIR- IMMT), National Institute of Science Education
and Research (NISER), Institute of Life Science Department of Science and Technology, Government
(ILS), Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), L of India and recognised as Centre of Excellence in
V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Central Institute of 2020, provides state-of-the-art technology platforms
Freshwater Aquaculture, (CIFA), All India Institute of for researchers and startups with the support from
Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and others like National Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council
Rice Research Institute (NRRI)-Cuttack, Indian (BIRAC)- a not-for-profit state owned enterprise under
Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER)- the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of
Berhampur, Fakir Mohan University (FM University) India KIIT-TBI has established BioNEST-Bioincubator,
- Balasore, who supports several cross-cutting efforts Technology Transfer Office under the NBM programme
in all sectors of the biotechnology industry including and the BIRAC –Regional Centre knows as BRTC to
biopharmaceuticals, molecular diagnostics, agriculture, promote Bioentrepreneurship in East and NorthEast
Food and nutraceuticals. regions of India. So far it has promoted more than 100
startups in the Biotechnology sector.
Speaking on the potential, Prof. Dinabandhu Sahoo,
a marine scientist on his own merit, who has been Recognizing the potential, Government of Odisha
spearheading the concept of Blue Revolution in India has identified Biotechnology as a priority area in its
and Vice Chancellor, FM University says “Odisha has a Industrial Policy Resolution and has come up with the
great future. FM University is going to setup a centre for Biotechnology Policy, 2018 and many other initiatives
Marine Bioresource and Biotechnology soon where it like Make in Odisha, Start up Odisha, to promote
will cater to the needs of entire coast of Odisha focusing translational research and spur innovation and novel
on sea weed, horse shoe crab, mangroves and marine product development. Odisha has now reached a
microbes said the sea weed man of India.” cusp from where it can take a big leap and leverage
its bioresource diversity and knowledge base to make
Prof. Sahoo, who is the former Director of IBSD, the state the destination of choice for investments in
looking after North East region and the man who Biotechnology sector.
started the concept of Pink revolution through
cherry blossom festival and promoted orchid based “Odisha is going to be the next Biotechnology
bioentrepreneurships, further says “Odisha should innovation HUB of India especially in the sector of
focus on not only on bioresource based economy as it diagnostics, agri-biotech, phytopharmaceuticals,” says
has several unique species of orchids, medicinal and Dr Mrutyunjay Suar, Director General of R&D of KIIT
aromatic plants and other economically important University and the CEO of KIIT Technology Business
bioresource. Primary and secondary value addition will Incubator.
create a lot of jobs in the state.”

Furthermore, located in close proximity to these
institutions, is the KIIT-Technology Business Incubator
(KIIT-TBI), established in 2009 with the support of

42 Q&A BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“We are particularly looking forward
to increasing our business in India”

« capabilities, particularly the analysis of the spent
media samples that we have continuously developed
Prof. Thomas Noll, in parallel with the ever-increasing demand for CD-
CCM on the global market. This makes Xell the ideal
Chairman, Supervisory partner for biopharma, biotechnological and feed and
food companies.
Board, Xell AG,
For more than a decade now, our experience
Germany and industry-leading knowledge has allowed us to
build an extensive, versatile and all-around superior
Emerging from the Institute of Cell Culture product and service portfolio for any client or
Technology at Bielefeld University, Germany, application utilising CHO, HEK, Hybridoma, BHK,
in 2009, Xell AG (formerly TeutoCell AG), MDCK, Vero or other human cell lines. We have
has grown to become an independent and privately established long-lasting client relationships with
financed biotech company dedicated to cutting-edge partners of varying sizes based all over the globe.
innovation and developing expertise. With more What’s more, we are also represented by various
than 20 years of hands-on experience in cell culture agents and distributors who support our ambition
technology, Xell has drawn from its academic and to strategically increase our market share outside of
technological knowledge to become a key partner in Europe.
the design and distribution of cell culture solutions.
The company is currently serving the Indian market How was the FY20-21 for the company? What
through its partnership with Navi Mumbai-based growth does Xell foresee in 2021?
Rane Rao Reshamia Laboratories. BioSpectrum
interacted with Prof. Thomas Noll, Chairman, Since its inception, Xell has consistently grown at an
Supervisory Board, Xell AG, Germany to find out average CAGR above 30 per cent. In the first years of
more about the company’s plans for 2021 and the business, our growth was mainly fuelled by cell
beyond. Edited excerpts; culture and analytical contract services, but growth
has also been complemented by proprietary cell
What are Xell’s major offerings in terms of culture media for an increasing range of cell lines.
products and services for the life sciences Sales from off-the-shelf products for CHO and HEK
industry? cell lines currently contribute more than 50 per cent
of annual sales. We have also seen a rapid increase
Xell AG was founded back in 2009 as a spin-off in the annual IP license payments resulting from cell
from the Cell Culture Technology lab at Bielefeld culture media developed for biopharma companies.
University. Our goal was to make the lab’s proprietary Crucially, 2019 saw the development of our first
technology – rational, lean-designed and chemically in-house products, which successfully achieved
defined cell culture media (CD-CCM) – accessible to market application for GMP production of approved
both the global biopharma industry and the biotech biopharmaceuticals. We anticipate several others
community. The Cell Culture Technology lab at used in late-stage clinical trials to follow shortly.
Bielefeld University can even trace its experience We expect 2021 to follow the excellent performance
and refinement of animal cell culture technology way trend seen in previous years, and so we remain very
back to 1989, a time when technologies were being optimistic about the future.
developed to express proteins from mammalian cells
economically. What plans are in store for the life sciences
sector in 2021?
Staying true to our origins, this particular
scientific approach will always remain an inherent The establishment of Xell’s production facility
part of Xell’s DNA. Proof of this lies in our analytical – a completely new state-of-the-art site for the
production of culture media in powder and liquid
formulation – has made our company even more
capable of assisting clients with projects from
the early USP phase to commercial supply. We

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com Q&A 43

commenced production at the beginning of 2020, end of 2019, our R&D facility added a BSL-2 lab to
and we are ramping it up continuously. By the end broaden our research capabilities. We are excited to
of 2021, Xell’s manufacturing resources will make enhance our clients’ projects even further.
it possible for us to produce our formulations and
custom formulations, with an annual capacity of What are the main challenges facing the bio-
about 144,000 kg of powdered media and 220,000
L of liquid cell culture media, all with highly-flexible supply market?
packing solutions. Our production facility has been
planned and built with modular expansion in mind, We believe that the challenges being experienced
and as a result, we have sufficient capacity to adapt in the supply chains for raw materials and sterile
to growing demand over the next five years. Having disposables present a major problem, one caused by
established ISO 9001 compliance in 2019, we are the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect this to remain
preparing for the completion of the ISO 13485 an issue until the start of 2022. Fortunately, we have
certification, which we hope will be achieved by the successfully implemented reasonable measures to
end of 2021. This is the next step on our way towards maintain flexibility and guarantee lead times that
current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) meet our clients’ requirements. Xell, as well as
compliance. other businesses, are having to deal with the limited
capacity and dramatically increased cost of global
Are you planning to launch any new products logistics. We expect to see this situation continue
until the third quarter of 2021. Our team here at
or services for the life sciences industry? Xell is well-prepared to continue serving the global
market with our cutting-edge products and services,
Xell has been globally recognized for its contract maintaining the same high level of performance and
research organisation (CRO) business and is quality as we have throughout the past decade. We
still supporting numerous projects throughout are particularly looking forward to increasing our
the commercial lifecycle phase. We recognize business in India, where there is a thriving industry
the increasing demand around the world for for biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. We have been
tailored, custom-specific solutions and for flexible working with our partner, Rane Rao Reshamia
manufacturing of high-quality cell culture media with Laboratories (RRR) in Navi Mumbai, since 2018.
short delivery times. This has fuelled our ambition This strong partnership is based on more than 20
to boost our capabilities from lab to production years of scientific collaboration between the founders
scale. In 2020, Xell completed its transition from a of RRR and Xell. We are truly grateful for the skills
cell culture media CRO to a contract development and enthusiasm of the team at RRR, and for their
and manufacturing organization (CDMO), and the support of Xell in India, one of the most exciting and
company successfully built a proprietary technology promising markets for biopharmaceuticals.
platform for providing solutions and services for the
production of viral vectors too. Remarkably, this Dr Manbeena Chawla
was in addition to our well-established portfolio [email protected]
suitable for the production of monoclonal antibodies
(mAbs) and other biopharmaceutical proteins using
CHO, BHK, HEK or other human cell lines. We are
confident that through our strategy for enhancing
our independent manufacturing capabilities, as
well as through the development of new products
and services for viral vector-based production, we
will maintain our ever-increasing growth rates. We
have already successfully introduced our HEK ViP
media family for the next level of production of
different BSL-1 or BSL-2 AAV serotypes as well as
lentiviruses, exceeding the yields that competitor
products are currently achieving. Also, within this
context, we are offering optimisation services based
on our proprietary spent media analysis tools. We
are also able to apply newly developed approaches
to determine product quality and perform initial
downstream processing (DSP) steps for further
investigations into the production process. At the

44 SPONSORED CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Purification of peptides: Save money
by an orthogonal approach using
ion exchange combined with RPC

« « Bio-Works,
Sweden AB,
Dr. Ravi Rayanade, Mr. Jan Berglöf, Uppsala, Sweden
Regional Dir. Co-Founder and
Bus. Dev. India* Sr. Global Technical Advisor

Therapeutic peptides hold an important position A 55% pure peptide feed was purified with
amongst pharmaceutical compounds due to
their relatively small size and their tolerability in WorkBeads™ 40S and Capto SP ImpRes to establish
humans, but they are subject to highly stringent purity which of the resins give the most optimal combination
requirements. Irrespective of the upstream method of purity and yield. Pre-purification steps had been
of synthesizing the target peptide, it generates a conducted, such as precipitation, filtration etc., to obtain
crude peptide contaminated by extensive amounts
of process-related impurities (failure sequences, this starting material, a 55% pure feed. As stated above,
chemical modifications, bioburden etc.), that need approximately 20-25% of the CIEX resins’ DBC was
to be removed. Currently, high-performance silica loaded to be able to distinguish the separation of impurities
based reverse phase chromatography (RPC) is the from the pure peptide, though, at process scale a higher
most preferred purification technique. However, its
vulnerable to exposure and fouling of the expensive percentage of the resins’ DBC can be loaded to maximize
silica-based columns by the crude peptide feeds. The each purification run. See Figure 1, for the separation
common method of cleaning-in-place using sodium obtained on the two different CIEX resins.
hydroxide for silica resins is of limited use, so these
impurities are difficult to remove. Introducing an Resins: WorkBeads™ 40S
upstream orthogonal purification step that significantly Capto SP ImpRes
reduces the burden on the expensive high-performance
RPC column, increasing the peptide yield and purity, Column: 10 × 240 mm, 19 mL
and also prolonging column life.
Flow rate: 150 cm/h (2 mL/min)
Synthetic peptide purification
Feed: Crude feed with 30 g peptide/L resin
We have investigated the capture of a synthetic (55% purity of target peptide)
pharmaceutical peptide of 45-amino acid residues (pI
4.3-4.5) using Bio-Works, WorkBeads™ 40S (CIEX). Binding buffer: 5 mM NH4Ac, pH 4,
The capture step increases the purity of the final 15% acetonitrile
peptide product and additionally reduces impurities
loaded onto the downstream high-performance silica- Elution buffer: 250 mM NH4Ac, pH 6,
based RPC column. Capto™ SP ImpRes (Cytiva) 15% acetonitrile
resin was included in the study for comparison. The
binding and elution conditions were optimized for the Gradients: 1. Linear: 0% to 40%, 1 CV
CIEX capture step, with binding at pH 4 and elution (column volume)
at pH 6 in the presence of 15% acetonitrile. The
final peptide load was approximately 20-25% of the 2. Step: 40%, 2 CV
dynamic binding capacity (DBC) (130 mg BSA/ml resin;
4min RT) of the resin in order to visualize individual 3. linear: 40% to 70%, 5 CV
separated peptide species. To validate the results of
including WorkBeads™ 40S as a capture column prior
to the RPC column, the results of experiments were
analyzed for purity in sub-sequent steps.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPONSORED CONTENT 45

Figure 1. Purification of the 45-amino acid from 45% to 8.2% (see Table 1) and a final purity
residue peptide from the 55% pure feed. UV traces of 99% for the target peptide is reached after the
are shown for 40S (blue WorkBeads™) and Capto combination of CIEX (WorkBeads™40S) and RPC,
SP ImpRes (red). Collected pool of target peptide is which is the requirement for pharmaceutical peptides/
shown with dashed lines and double headed arrow active pharmaceutical ingrediencies (API). Thus,
WorkBeads™40S is an excellent choice to include
The main target peptide peak indicated in upstream in the purification flow for synthetic peptide
the chromatogram above is more separated for purifications, both regarding final purity of the target
WorkBeads™40S than for Capto SP ImpRes. All peptide and for protection of the downstream silica-
peptide species eluted earlier in the chromatogram based RPC resin.

are incomplete failure peptide sequences, i.e. The results demonstrate the significant
impurities that must be removed. The target peptide enhancement of purity using an agarose-based
was collected to keep the yield the same (92%) on orthogonal cation exchange step before the final
both columns. The purity obtained with a loading of polishing by RPC. Further investigations will promote
30 g/L was 91.8% for WorkBeads™40S and 85.2% understanding of the gain in productivity for the RPC
for Capto SP ImpRes (Table 1). The purity increased step from being able to load a larger feed, reduce
to 93.0% on WorkBeads™ 40S when the loading was fouling and increase column lifetime.
decreased to 10 g/L resin.
Depending on peptide sequence and desired
Table 1. Purity obtained with a load of 30 g/L of a conditions, either an CIEX resin or an AIEX resin may
crude feed containing 55% target peptide. be employed as a first capture step. WorkBeads™
40Q is an AIEX resin with the same base matrix
Resin Purity (%) Impurities (%) as WorkBeads™40S, but with positively charged
quaternary amine ligands. Both WorkBeads™ 40Q
Starting feed 55 45 and WorkBeads™ 40S resins are excellent for
research- and industrial-scale purification of peptides.
WorkBeads™ 91.8 8.2
40S Anecdotal information from customers using
WorkBeads™ 40S in large scale production of
Capto SP ImpRes 85.2 14.8 peptide drugs substance indicate a yearly cost saving
of USD 100K. The amount saved will depend on the
The peptide pool eluted from WorkBeads™ 40S production scale, batch size, number of batches per
was then subjected to a polishing step using an RPC year, cost of RPC resin etc., and may thus vary from
silica column resulting in the final purity of 99 % for case to case.
this therapeutic peptide (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Purity analysis by RPC. (A) Crude *The corresponding author Dr. Ravi Rayanade could
feed (blue trace) and peptide purified on 40S (black be contacted by email [email protected]
WorkBeads™trace). (B) Final product after RPC
polishing or by Tel +91-8605015036

Summary for synthetic peptide purification

WorkBeads™40S shows superior performance
regarding capacity and selectivity (purity/yield)
compared to Capto SP ImpRes. Both resins show
excellent mass transfer properties and no hindered
diffusion.

The added CIEX step using WorkBeads™ 40S
reduced the loaded impurities on the RPC column

46 PEOPLE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Shreehas Tambe takes charge as Shriram
Deputy CEO of Biocon Biologics
Vijayakumar
Shreehas Tambe has taken on the role of Deputy Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) of Biocon Biologics. Tambe has been steps in as
with Biocon since 1997 and has played a critical
role in shaping the biosimilars business, till CEO of IHH
most recently he was the Chief Operating
Officer (COO) of Biocon Biologics. He has Healthcare India
over 20 years of leadership experience in
operational and strategic roles and has led Shriram Vijayakumar has been
large, diverse teams at R&D, manufacturing appointed as the Chief Executive
and projects & engineering during his tenure. Officer (CEO) of IHH Healthcare
Previously, as the Senior Vice President & India. Vijayakumar joined IHH
Global Head of Biocon’s insulins business unit Healthcare as Chief Operating
he was responsible for the P&L and expanding Officer (COO) of its India
the insulins portfolio across several Operations Division in December
geographies. Tambe holds a Masters’ 2019. Until February 28, 2021,
degree in Bioprocess Technology from he oversaw the operations of five
ICT (UDCT), University of Mumbai Gleneagles Global Hospitals and
and has also studied Pharmaceutical Continental Hospital in India. As
Sciences & Technology at University the newly promoted CEO of IHH
of Pune. He was conferred the coveted Healthcare India, he will work
Distinguished Alumnus Award with the Board of Directors to
(Professional) by his alma mater, the guide and advise the management
prestigious ICT, Mumbai, in 2020. team as it delivers on its business
strategy while ensuring alignment
NephroPlus appoints and continual improvement in its
Dr OP Manchanda as service development, physician
Independent Director engagement, and clinical quality.
Before joining, Vijayakumar
Hyderabad based NephroPlus has added another feather to the cap had a successful career as the
with the addition of Dr Om Prakash Manchanda into the Board of Founder and Managing Director
Directors as an Independent Director. This induction will further of Nephrolife before he sold the
help NephroPlus in its scale-up journey as it business to DaVita Kidney Care
expands in domestic and international markets. and became DaVita’s Deputy
Dr Manchanda is the Managing Director of Dr COO International. Vijayakumar
Lal PathLabs. With their strategic vision and holds a double major degree in
operational abilities, Dr Manchanda has helped Bachelor of Science, Economics
transform Dr Lal PathLabs into its current and Information Systems from
network of over 200 labs, more than 2,500 the Carnegie Mellon University,
patient service centres, and close to 6,500 sample United States.
pick-up-points. Before joining Dr Lal PathLabs
in 2005, Dr Manchanda led the International &
Innovation group of the Consumer Healthcare
Division at Ranbaxy. He has also worked for
Monsanto as the head of Sales and Marketing, where his team
successfully launched the company’s first ever biotech product Bt-
Cotton. Earlier, during his tenure with Hindustan Unilever for about
10 years, he received in-depth exposure in consumer product sales,
distribution and marketing.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com PEOPLE NEWS 47

Dr Milind Kokje receives World Dr Sonu Gandhi
Nutrition Journalism Award receives
SERB Women
The Chief Editor of BioSpectrum India, BioSpectrum Asia, and AgroSpectrum, Excellence Award
Dr Milind Kokje, who also heads NuFFooDS Spectrum, has been awarded
the Innovation Leadership in Nutrition Journalism Award by Nutrify India. Dr Sonu Gandhi, a Scientist
He has been editing NuFFooDS Spectrum, since its inception in 2013. at the National Institute of
Animal Biotechnology (NIAB),
Most of the top industry captains have Hyderabad, who has recently
been contributing for it and consider it as a developed a smart nanodevice
credible media platform. A veteran journalist for the detection of Rheumatoid
of over 40 years’ experience, he has always arthritis (RA), cardiovascular
tried to remain ahead of the pack in getting disease (CVD), and Japanese
involved in new media. Starting his career in Encephalitis (JE), has been
print journalism, he then moved to launch awarded the prestigious SERB
and head an online media platform for the Women Excellence Award. The
Times Group in the early years of online award instituted by Science and
journalism and then moved on to head a Engineering Research Board
24 hours news channel. Besides journalistic (SERB), Department of Science
assignments he has been a visiting faculty and Technology (DST), recognises
at some of the best media academic institutions and university. He has and rewards outstanding
been involved in media advocacy training for the NGO sector and has research achievements of young
been an active member of the Asia Media Forum. He was also involved in women scientists in frontier areas
several scholarly research studies in the media sector. NuFFooDS Spectrum, of Science and Engineering.
BioSpectrum India, BioSpectrum Asia, and AgroSpectrum are the leading
B2B integrated media platforms of the Media Division of MM Activ Sci Tech
Communications group.

48 R&D NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

IIT-M discovers IIT-G designs automated AI
potential cure system to detect colorectal cancer
for Parkinson’s
disease A team of researchers from the is excited with their results and
Indian Institute of Technology, believe that their work would have
Researchers from Indian Guwahati (IIT-G), along with a global impact in the detection
Institute of Technology, scientists from renowned of colorectal cancer. They plan
Madras (IIT-M) have found research institutes around the to commercialize the technology
that energy deficiency in world, has designed an automated in the future as the market need
certain cells in the human artificial intelligence (AI) based is enormous. However, before
brain to be a major cause system to detect colorectal commercialization, they have laid
for Parkinson’s disease cancer using colonoscopy images. out an ambitious research plan to
(PD). This research could The commonly used technique fine tune their system.
lead to scientists and other to detect colorectal cancer
stakeholders focusing on is colonoscopy, in which the
improving the efficiency of specialist such as the physician,
energy delivery to these cells, gastroenterologist or oncologist,
which might finally lead to visually inspects the image
a cure for PD. Although it is obtained by the camera inserted
known that PD is caused by the into the colon of the subject. In
loss of dopaminergic cells in the current manual approach
substantia nigra pars compacta for colonoscopy examination by
(SNc), the decisive cause of physicians, observation bias may
this inexorable cell loss has not sometimes lead to an erroneous
clearly been elucidated before. diagnosis. The research team
The IIT-M researchers have
developed a computational Raman Research Institute
model that showed that energy studies effect of prolonged
deficiency might be a major alcohol exposure on RBCs
cause of SNc cell loss in PD.
Moving forward in the next five Scientists have custom-made a platform to detect the effect of prolonged
years, this type of framework alcohol exposure on Red Blood Cells (RBCs) through high-resolution
will help in providing measurements of their size. The high-resolution platform that shows the
personalized medicine for reduction in size of RBCs on alcohol exposure can be tuned for a point-
PD patients rather than the of-care screening of multiple conditions that alter the size and count
currently employed trial and
error approach. of RBCs in blood. Although it
is known that alcohol affects
RBCs, the exact physiological
changes are very subtle and
difficult to measure. In order
to overcome this challenge,
scientists from Bengaluru
based Raman Research
Institute (RRI) have developed
custom-made electro-fluidic
platform that can detect the
change by measuring the cell size in enhanced resolution. The device
made in RRI relies on the resistive pulse sensing principle. The team first
developed techniques for making tiny micron (1/1000th of a millimetre)
sized holes or micro-pores at the tip of a glass capillary with careful
fabrication, flame polishing, and image verification.

BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com ACADEMICS NEWS 49

Tata STRIVE, Wipro GE Healthcare
to skill youth for jobs in healthcare

Tata STRIVE and Wipro GE whom belong to underprivileged for the course. It intends to
Healthcare have entered into sections of society. Tata STRIVE enhance the programme delivery
a partnership to skill youth for with the support of Tata Trusts and efficacy by providing
jobs in the healthcare sector will provide the candidates loan digital solutions for planning
over a period of three years. scholarships upon qualifying and managing batches, loan
The agreement aims to skill scholarships, attendance,
6,200 candidates in various assessments and tracking. Tata
technical and operational STRIVE will provide its industry
areas of healthcare. As part of relevant state-of-the-art content
this partnership, Wipro GE for the soft skills aligned to the
Healthcare will design, develop healthcare sector requirements.
and implement industry-relevant, This partnership is a significant
hands-on training with a goal of step to address the increasing
achieving gainful employment demand for Allied Healthcare
for these students, many of Professionals (AHPs).

Amrita Vishwa IIHMR pushes
Vidyapeetham partners with
EU’s Human Brain Project skill development

Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has become the first Indian in public health
University to partner with European Union’s Human Brain
Project (HBP) that has 143 university institutes in Europe management
working together to better understand brain function and
develop solutions to cure brain diseases. A Memorandum of Indian Institute of Health
Understanding (MoU) was signed between Amrita Vishwa Management Research (IIHMR) in
Vidyapeetham and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Jaipur has signed a Memorandum
Lausanne (EPFL) in of Understanding (MoU) with
Switzerland for working Shri Vishwakarma Skill University
together on the project, in Haryana for promoting skill
in collaboration with the development in public health
University of Pavia in management programmes
Italy and Aix-Marseille and establish a framework
University in France. The for programmes of exchange
development comes close and collaboration in areas of
on the heels of Amrita management and skill development.
Vishwa Vidyapeetham This alliance between IIHMR
launching the Amrita University and Shri Vishwakarma
Mind Brain Center Skill University will allow both
(AMBC) at its Amritapuri campus in Kerala to strengthen parties to train and create healthcare
fundamental research related to brain, cognition, computations talent that is much needed in the
and neuro-engineering. The centre will develop new technologies country. IIHMR University has been
to investigate brain function, dysfunction, and therapy. The conducting training programmes
BOLDsim project will model special signals generated by brain for both government and non-
activity, called the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) government organisations. With the
signals, using cellular-level data available with the HBP’s Brain National Education Policy and the
Simulation Platform as well as with the team of Prof. Egidio Government of India also promoting
D’Angelo of University of Pavia in Italy. skill education and inclusion of skill
curriculum, this MoU is certainly a
milestone for IIHMR University.

50 SUPPLIERS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | APRIL 2021 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Thermo Fisher CDSCO grants HiMedia
introduces license for COVID-19 RT-PCR kit
SARS-CoV-2
mutation panel Mumbai based HiMedia has documentation procedures.
announced the arrival of the The kit has been successfully
Thermo Fisher Scientific has much awaited Central Drug validated by Indian Council
announced the launch of its Standard Control Organisation- of Medical Research (ICMR),
Applied Biosystems TaqMan Ministry of Health (CDSCO) National Institute of Virology,
SARS-CoV-2 mutation panel, manufacturing license for Pune and is ready to be sold in
a customizable menu of 22 sale & distribution of Hi-PCR the market. Hi-PCR Coronavirus
verified real-time PCR assays for Coronavirus (COVID-19) multiplex probe PCR Kit-
identification of SARS-CoV-2 Multiplex Probe PCR Kit- MBPCR243 from HiMedia
mutations. These assays enable MBPCR243. HiMedia’s exclusively offers not just one,
surveillance of variants that are molecular biology department but two confirmatory genes
causing COVID-19 infections has successfully obtained the for the detection of COVID-19.
in specific regions globally and permission to manufacture Along with the screening gene
allow laboratories to choose, and distribute the 4-gene and internal control, this makes
which mutations to track. SARS- multiplexing kit, which detects it one of the very few kits with a
CoV-2 has mutated countless COVID-19 after facing a total of four different genes in a
times, with some variants series of audits and rigorous single tube.
potentially impacting efficacy
of treatments and vaccines, Rockwell launches
stressing the importance of COVID-19 freezer series
continued surveillance of
viral changes. The TaqMan Hyderabad headquartered Rockwell Industries, a pioneering
SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Panel is commercial cold chain appliances manufacturer, has launched
designed to be highly scalable, CHILLERMILL, the world’s first chiller/freezer powered by hybrid
being able to run a few or (solar & wind) renewable energy, that would be ideal for storing
hundreds of samples to identify vaccines, lifesaving medicines, including those for COVID-19 vaccines
one or many mutations. This at the desired temperature. The company also rolled out their new
provides laboratories with the COVID-19 vaccine freezer series. The intelligently designed Rockwell’s
ability to meet various levels CHILLERMILL, and WHO PQS (World Health Organisation PQS)
of testing need with real-time certified the new COVID-19 freezer series will be manufactured at its
PCR instruments they already state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Medchal, Hyderabad. The
use. The TaqMan SARS-CoV-2 entire system is certified by the National Institute of Pharmaceutical
Mutation Panel provides results Education & Research (NIPER) Hyderabad. It is a simple plug and play
in about an hour and is based standalone unit, powered by SolarMill, a hybrid (Wind & Solar) energy
on gold standard TaqMan SNP solution, manufactured by WindStream Energy Technologies ideal for
genotyping assay technology, remote areas where availability of electricity is not stable. The hybrid
which can help to detect renewable system comprising Savonius vertical axis wind turbines,
and distinguish mutations along with a solar module enables the refrigerator to run 24/7 on power
efficiently. stored in batteries.