BioSpectrum India Sep 2022

REPLIGEN OPENS NEW
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTRE
FOR BIOPROCESSING IN BENGALURU

Repligen, a leader in the development and or working with therapeutic proteins, gene therapy
production of materials used in the manufacture or vaccines, the leading edge workflow solutions
of biological drugs, has opened a new customer from Repligen will streamline processes and cut
experience centre in Bengaluru. With this new manufacturing costs. Bioprocessing technologies
facility in India, Repligen is inspiring advances in from Repligen are designed to deliver configurable
bioprocessing for the customers it serves; primarily options for your end-to-end modern bioprocessing
biopharmaceutical drug developers and contract needs. Through this customer experience centre, the
development and manufacturing organizations company also intends to focus on biopharmaceutical
(CDMOs) across the country. Whether the work is in process efficiency and effectiveness through
fed-batch, hybrid continuous or full continuous mode, innovation in single-use technologies in India.

4 BIO CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

DRIVING COVER 18

UP DRUG
DISCOVERY

As India takes baby steps in the field 22
of drug discovery, it becomes crucial
that the government steps up and Can computer models of
provides requisite support to usher in the brain pave the way to
a conducive environment for pharma cost-effective drug discovery?
companies to excel. Concrete - Prof. V Srinivasa Chakravarthy,
measures are warranted to boost and
promote drug discoveries by Indian Department of Biotechnology,
players to add another dimension IIT Madras, Chennai
to the larger Aatmanirbhar Bharat
mission. Let’s explore further.

Speaking With 30
24
“We leverage India as a market for
“We plan to introduce 25 new supplying great talent for Stryker
therapies by 2025 globally, with and doing great R&D work”
focus on oncology & hospital Ram Rangarajan,
products”
Sai Sethuraman, Vice President,
SGTC – R&D, Stryker
India Head for Global
Product Development, Pfizer 32

Metaverse “Funding winter appears to be
temporary since fundamentals of
26 the Indian economy are very strong”
Colonel Hemraj Singh Parmar
How Metaverse Fits the Healthcare Bill (Retd),

Co-Founder, DoctCo

34

“High-speed 5G connectivity
can advance medical device
growth trajectory in India”
Girish Raghavan,

Vice President- Engineering,
GE Healthcare

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com BIO CONTENT 5

Automation

36

Has Automation Become
Indispensable for Pharma?

Kedar Suvarnapathaki, Dr Firdosh S Gardin, COVER
DESIGN BY:
Chair Medical and Regulatory Work Chair Technical and Supply Chain DOMINIX STRATEGIC
Group, OPPI and Director – Regulatory Work Group, OPPI and Head – DESIGN PVT. LTD.
Affairs, Janssen India, Johnson & External Supply Operations APMA,
Johnson Pvt Ltd Novartis India Ltd Regulars

Synthetic Biology BioEdit .......................................................................... 06
BioMail ......................................................................... 08
38 Policy and Regulatory News..................................... 10
Finance News.............................................................. 13
Synthetic Biology- The ticket Company News.......................................................... 14
to a sustainable future! Start-up News............................................................. 16
Suraj Nair, Academia News.......................................................... 42
People News................................................................ 44
Lead (TechSprouts), Supplier News............................................................. 46
Ankur Capital Let’s Talk Health.......................................................... 50

BUSINESS INSIGHT How has been Repligen’s this APAC share, India contributes
journey so far in India? about 25 per cent. But the important
“The ideal goal in the part is that our Indian business has
next 5 years would We started Repligen’s business grown well in the last five years.
be to consider local in India in the bioprocessing space
in 2010. We were working through What are the major plans in
manufacturing in India” distribution centres back then. It is store for the Indian market in the
always a bit challenging when you next five years?
US-based bioprocessing-focused life work with distributing channels as you
sciences company bringing expertise are not able to develop a personal In the coming years, our major
connect with the customers. In 2016, focus would be on gathering
and innovation to its customers when we acquired Spectrum Labs, we technical and scientific resources
since 1981, Repligen has launched could establish direct connect in India for sustainable growth in India
a new customer experience centre through this organisation. And then because customer hand holding
in Bengaluru, India. To find out more in 2019, we officially launched the through optimisation is critical. We
about the company’s growth plans Repligen brand in India. With so many know that finding the right skill sets
competing investment opportunities is hard and so we spend more time
in India, BioSpectrum spoke to available now, we decided to open the with breakthrough medicine centres
STEPHEN K TINGLEY, customer experience centre in India or incubators, in universities for the
this year. Also, from the leadership training purposes. It might be easier
Vice President, perspective, we knew that we need to in the US, but we want to use the
Sales- Repligen in detail. grow our footprint in India. similar approach in India in order to
find the right talent. Besides, the ideal
Edited excerpts; How much business is being goal in the next five years would also
generated by the Indian and APAC be to consider the opportunity for
market? local manufacturing in India. Since
the interest in mRNA technology is
Overall, the Asia Pacific (APAC) growing in India, we have a two-fold
market contributes to around 20-30 role to play- to present potential
per cent of our global revenue. We technologies for production and
have mainly invested in China, Japan, purification for the mRNA processes,
and Korea. Australia is also picking up and to teach the customers how to
owing to the presence of a few highly use these technologies.
innovative companies there. Out of

6 BIO EDIT BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

A Deficient Proposition

Keeping in tune with the emerging developments Act for the devices is not addressed. Its argument has
in healthcare and medicine, the introduction of some validity as the sector is growing so fast, it would
the term ‘Medical Devices’ in the title of the draft have been prudent to bifurcate drugs and devices at
Bill for enacting the new drugs legislation is quite crucial. this juncture, rather than addressing this issue just a
From robotics, used in complicated surgeries, to simple few years later.
and common ‘home-use’ devices like pulse oximeters
and blood pressure and sugar level monitoring gadgets On the clinical trial front, the Bill has provisions
and from high-level artificial intelligence (AI) to for penalties and imprisonment for failing to pay
machine learning, various devices are now deployed in compensation to trial victims. Currently, all matters
monitoring, controlling and improving health. related to clinical trials are regulated through the
clinical trial rules.
No wonder the medical devices market in India is
estimated to reach $50 billion in just the next three However, one glaring lacuna is the absence of good
years, growing at 37 per cent CAGR. The proposed Bill manufacturing practices (GMPs) and the transparency
wishes to recognise the increasing usage and growing in new drug approvals. GMPs were included in India in
market of medical devices and the need to regulate it. 1988 in the rules drafted by the government. But the
To enact the proposed new Act, the government has required corrective measure to incorporate GMPs in
published the draft of ‘Drugs, Medical Devices and the Act itself has not been done even now. The Bill is
Cosmetics Bill, 2022’ to seek opinion and suggestions totally silent about the GMPs. It does not even mention
from stakeholders. making inspection reports public. Experts feel that this
would open the possibility of irregularities. In their
After 82 years, the government is proposing a opinion the Bill does not deviate much from the existing
totally revamped, new Act for drugs. The original Drugs Act, in fact, it is almost a copy of the Act.
and Cosmetics Act was from the pre-independence era,
enacted in 1940. The Act, along with its rules in 1945, The Bill also fails to address the issue of
were amended from time to time to keep pace with uneven enforcement of the Act. Each state has
changing times in the field of healthcare. However, its own enforcing agency, like the Food and Drug
despite many amendments since then, several parts of Administration, to licence manufacturing, testing and
the Act became obsolete. subsequent steps thereof. This has created a problem
of uneven enforcement. That was way back in 2003,
Thefieldofmedicinesandhealthcareisrevolutionised the Mashelkar Committee recommended centralising
by several developments like introduction of new drug licensing with the central regulator. When a very
techniques, new diagnostics and treatment procedures, old Act is being completely revamped to suit the current
the concept of big corporate hospitals, widespread use time, it was the most opportune time to introduce this
of private and public medical insurance, and in general, change. However, the Bill is again silent over the issue.
privatisation of healthcare. To address issues raised by The centre probably is worried that this would prop up
these developments, the need for a totally new Act was the issue of Centre-State relations and powers, which
felt for a long time. Hence, the proposed new Act. has already been raised by some states in other matters.

The Bill proposes two important points – setting up While inclusion of medical devices and clinical trials
of medical devices technical advisory boards and medical in the Bill are welcome steps, there is much more that
devices testing centres like the drug laboratories in can be incorporated from the regulatory angle which
states and at the centre level. The important difference is the most essential requirement, something the
is that unlike in the old Act, the medical devices will government may consider while presenting the Bill in
not be regulated on par with the drugs. Though the the parliament.
medical devices have been given their due recognition,
the Association of Indian Medical Devices Industry Dr Milind Kokje
(AiMeD) is disappointed as its aspiration for a separate Chief Editor

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8 BIO MAIL BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Scan Vol 20; Issue 8; August 2022
QR code
to access Acknowledgements/ Feedback
BioSpectrum
The article titled ‘Saving Newborns on Priority’
India in the August edition of BioSpectrum India
Digizine was visually so much appealing and the
collective mentions from other verticals were
so cohersively conveying what the magazine
actually intends to. Apart from a miss outs, the
article was neatly drafted and was an excellent
effort in recognising and addressing the growth, challenges and state
of the Neonatal Medical Device sector which is often not recognised by
many. Nice Neotech Medical Systems is happy being a part of this edition
and looking forward for many more.

- Kerlin Sara Wilson, Chennai

Thank you so much for considering O2 Cure as part of the cover story of
BioSpectrum India in the august edition.

- Yasir Mirza, New Delhi

The healthcare/pharma space continues to remain dynamic. Thank you so
much for covering the write-up by Gauri Chaudhari on branded generics.

- Tanu Dogra, New Delhi

Vol 20; Issue 9; September 2022 MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications

Publisher & Managing Editor: South Region New Delhi INTERNATIONAL
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10 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Govt to launch new portal to expedite 2025
goal of TB elimination in India

The United States Agency for Assemblies, Panchayati Raj
Leaders, technical experts, and
International Development civil society to discuss different
topics centred around eliminating
(USAID), in collaboration with TB. Dr Mansukh Mandaviya,
Union Minister for Health and
the Karnataka Health Promotion Family Welfare, gave the inaugural
address in which he highlighted
Trust (KHPT), the National that health must be a priority if
we need to progress and ensure
Tuberculosis (TB) Elimination that socio-economic development
is achieved. He announced that a
Programme, and the Global new portal would be launched that
could make this a reality.
Coalition Against TB, recently

organised a critical consultation

intended to aid national efforts Building Synergies for a TB
Mukt Bharat (TB Free India)’
to achieve Prime Minister Modi’s brought together key stakeholders
including members of Parliament,
goal of a TB-free India by 2025. members of the Legislative

The conference, titled ‘National

Consultation on TB Elimination:

DST offers new New draft guidelines for
Drugs, Medical Devices
scheme to augment and Cosmetics Bill, 2022

research capabilities The Union Health Ministry is in the process of revising the
outdated Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940 with an updated
A new scheme has been launched to augment one where the focus will be more on laying down strict
the research capabilities in a structured regulatory guidelines to keep pace with changing needs
way to create a robust R&D ecosystem in and technology. The Ministry has called for suggestions,
state and private universities and colleges, comments and objections from various stakeholders.
including self-financed institutions working The Bill proposes new definitions for clinical trials, over-
within these universities. State University the-counter drugs, manufacturers, medical devices, new
Research Excellence (SERB-SURE) is a drugs, bioavailability studies, investigational new drugs
new innovative scheme of the Science and
Engineering Research Board (SERB), a and imported spurious
statutory body of the Department of Science drugs, among others. It
and Technology (DST), that can foster seeks to bring in regulations
collaboration for high-end research at state for online pharmacies and
and private universities and colleges. The medical devices and penalties
new scheme will help bring the university such as imprisonment and
system, which was so far mostly limited compensation in case of
to teaching, into mainstream research injury or death during clinical
and enable the young faculty there to trials for drugs. The Centre
participate in cutting-edge research. The has proposed a separate
new programme, which would also support Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and Medical
data-driven social science research, would be Devices Technical Advisory Board (MDTAB). Other than
a great stimulus to the latent potential that officials from the health ministry, the board will also
lies in the universities. The scheme would include people from the Department of Atomic Energy,
provide much-needed research opportunities Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of
to the faculties of state universities, 45 per Electronics, DRDO, and experts in the field of biomedical
cent of which are located in rural areas. technology, biomaterials, and polymer technology. The
There is a need to train the faculty of the draft proposes to allow the Centre to waive the requirement
universities on how to write and submit of conducting a clinical investigation for the manufacture
proposals, procurements, and management or import of a new medical device in the public interest.
of projects.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com PARTNER CONTENT 11

Cryo-Preservation Techniques- The history
and principles of low temperature tissue storage

The age-old technique of low temperature tissue storage cardiac muscle tissues, nerve tissue, and bone.
dates back to the late 1800s. It was a known fact that if
cells or tissue are subjected to sudden low temperature Cryopreservation is also used to freeze and store human
freezing they go in to a thermal shock and the cells tend to die
eventually. In the early 1900s it was discovered that osmotic embryos and sperm. It is especially valuable for the freezing of
pressure was the primary reason for cell death during cryo-
preservation. Later on it was realized that it may be necessary extra embryos that are generated by in vitro fertilization (IVF).
to consider the addition of cryo-preservative agents such as
Dimethyl Sulfoxide C2H6OS (DMSO) Ethylene Glycol (CH2OH)2, A couple can choose to use cryo-preserved embryos for later
Propylene Glycol C3H8O2 and Glycerol C3H8O3 (although these
agents are cytotoxic to the cells in higher concentrations) to the pregnancies or in the event that IVF fails with fresh embryos. In
cells for long term storage during slow freezing of cells and to
prevent cell death during cryopreservation. Another factor for the the process of frozen embryo transfer, the embryos are thawed
survival of the cells is the rate of Cooling and thawing during low
temperature storage. For the success of the technique, the cells and implanted into the woman’s uterus. Frozen embryo transfer
have to be subjected to -1ºC/min cell freezing rate by addition of
10% DMSO alone or in combination with others and eventually is associated with a small but significant increase in the risk of
on reaching -80ºC or below the cells are stored in the vapour
phase of liquid nitrogen in storage vials containers or cryo vials childhood cancer among children born from such embryos.
that can withstand extremely low temperatures.
Cells can live more than a decade if properly frozen.
Freezing medium: Cryopreservation is based on the ability
of certain small molecules to enter cells and prevent dehydration In addition, certain tissues, such as parathyroid glands,
and formation of intracellular ice crystals, which can cause cell
death and destruction of cell organelles during the freezing veins, cardiac valves, and aortic tissue, can be successfully
process. Two common cryoprotective agents are dimethyl
sulfoxide (DMSO) and glycerol. Glycerol is used primarily for cryopreserved. Freezing is also used to store and maintain
cryoprotection of red blood cells, and DMSO is used for protection
of most other cells and tissues. A sugar called trehalose, which long-term viability of early human embryos, ova (eggs), and
occurs in organisms capable of surviving extreme dehydration,
is used for freeze-drying methods of cryopreservation. Trehalose sperm. The freezing procedures used for these tissues are well
stabilizes cell membranes, and it is particularly useful for the
preservation of sperm, stem cells, and blood cells. established, and, in the presence of cryoprotective agents, the

Applications: An important application of cryopreservation tissues can be stored over long periods of time at temperatures
is in the freezing and storage of hematopoietic stem cells, which
are found in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. of −14°C (6.8°F).

In autologous bone-marrow Operating mechanism:
rescue, hematopoietic stem cells
are collected from a patient’s Most systems of cellular
bone marrow prior to treatment
with high-dose chemotherapy. cryopreservation use a
Following treatment, the
patient’s cryopreserved cells controlled-rate freezer. This
are thawed and infused back
into the body. This procedure freezing system delivers
is necessary, since high-dose
chemotherapy is extremely toxic liquid nitrogen into a closed
to the bone marrow. The ability
to cryopreserve hematopoietic chamber into which the cell
stem cells has greatly enhanced
the outcome for the treatment of suspension is placed. Abdos
certain lymphomas and solid
tumour malignancies. Labtech manufactures
In the case of patients with leukemia, their blood cells are
cancerous and cannot be used for autologous bone-marrow high purity virgin USP
rescue. As a result, these patients rely on cryopreserved blood
collected from the umbilical cords of new born infants or on class VI medical grade
cryopreserved hematopoietic stem cells obtained from donors.
Since the late 1990s it has been recognized that hematopoietic Polypropylene make Cryo-
stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells (derived from embryonic
connective tissue) are capable of differentiating into skeletal and vial external threaded &

internal threaded for long

term cryogenic storage

purposes. Careful monitoring

of the rate of freezing helps

to prevent rapid cellular dehydration and ice-crystal formation.

In general, the cells are taken from room temperature to

approximately −90°C (−130°F) in a controlled-rate freezer. The

frozen cell suspension is then transferred into a liquid-nitrogen

freezer maintained at extremely cold temperatures with nitrogen

in either the vapour or the liquid phase. Cryopreservation based

on freeze-drying does not require use of liquid-nitrogen freezers.

Source: Abdos Life Science

12 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

India’s ICMR explores development
Bioeconomy at of indigenous vaccine &
$80B in 2021, diagnostic kits for Monkeypox
to touch $300B
by 2030 The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune which works under
Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has successfully isolated
Releasing India’s Bioeconomy and cultured the Monkeypox virus strain from the samples of infected
Report 2022, Dr Jitendra Indian patients. According to
Singh, Union Minister of State ICMR, the genomic sequence
(Independent Charge) Science of the Indian strains has 99.85
& Technology; Minister of per cent match with the West
State (Independent Charge) African Strains circulating
Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, globally. ICMR has also invited
Personnel, Public Grievances, an expression of interest
Pensions, Atomic Energy and proposing to hand over the
Space, pointed out that India’s virus strain to interested
Bioeconomy has reached over Indian Vaccine and In-Vitro
$80 billion in 2021 recording 14.1 Diagnostic industry partners
per cent growth over $70.2 billion for development of indigenous vaccine and diagnostic kits for
in 2020. Noting the rapid growth Monkeypox. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),
in the sector, the Minister said, Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from
Bioeconomy is likely to touch animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox
$150 billion by 2025 and over patients, although it is clinically less severe.
$300 billion by 2030. Biopharma
still accounts for the largest share Karnataka, Manipur and
of the Bioeconomy. Biopharma Chandigarh top NITI Aayog’s
accounted for 49 per cent share India Innovation Index 2021
of the Bioeconomy. The total
economic contribution of this Karnataka, Manipur and Chandigarh have topped in their respective
segment was estimated at $39.4 categories in the third edition of NITI Aayog’s India Innovation
billion. Diagnostics accounted for Index. The index was recently released by NITI Aayog Vice
52.8 per cent share of the total Chairman Suman Bery. While Karnataka has topped again in the
Biopharma Market, while the ‘Major States’ category, Manipur is leading the ‘North East and Hill
Therapeutics segment stood at
26 per cent. The Biotherapeutics States’ category and
segment is estimated to record Chandigarh is the top
$1.05 billion in value. Diabetes, performer in the ‘Union
oncology, infections, and Territories and City
cardiology medication are the States’ category. The
primary contributors. India Innovation Index
2021 presents state-wise
rankings based on the
innovation landscape
and performance of
the country’s states and union territories. The latest framework
of the index has been mapped from the Global Innovation
Index, published annually by WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organisation). The new framework presents a more nuanced and
comprehensible outlook for measuring innovation performance in
India, with the introduction of 66 unique indicators as against the
36 indicators used in the previous index.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com FINANCE NEWS 13

General Atlantic, Kedaara Capital lead
Rs 1,500 Cr investment in ASG Eye Hospitals

Jaipur-based ASG Eye Hospitals who invested in the company in India are estimated to be visually
has announced an Rs 1,500 crore 2017. Over the last 3 years, ASG has impaired, with 8 million being
investment led by General Atlantic doubled its number of hospitals afflicted with blindness. There is
and Kedaara Capital, representing and tripled its revenue. According a shortage of ophthalmologists
India’s largest fundraise in the eye to the Lancet Global Health and optometrists in smaller
care industry and largest private Commission’s report on global cities, towns, and rural areas
equity transaction in the single eye health, 62 million people in – India has only an estimated
specialty healthcare industry 25,000 ophthalmologists and
to date. General Atlantic and only 45,000 optometrists against
Kedaara Capital will join existing a required 125,000. Expanding
operations-focused healthcare infrastructure, training eye
investor Foundation Holdings in specialists and better utilisation
supporting and fuelling ASG Eye of technological innovation in eye-
Hospitals’ growth towards their care will be essential in stemming
mission to become one of Asia’s the rising number of cases, and
leading eye hospital chains. The ASG Eye Hospitals’ expertise is
transaction is also expected to pave anticipated to play a vital role in
the way for an exit for Investcorp, achieving progress across India.

CARE Hospitals Merck invests €200,000
in microbiology application
takes majority control in lab in Bengaluru

United CIIGMA Hospitals Merck has announced the opening of its first
Microbiology Application and Training (MAT) Lab
Hyderabad-based CARE Hospitals Group, in Jigani, Bengaluru, offering facilities and technical
an asset of TPG Growth managed Evercare expertise to support the Indian life science community
Fund, and one of the largest hospital networks on microbial quality control capability development.
in India, has announced the expansion of With an investment of €200,000, the MAT Centre
their network in Maharashtra region through spans an area size of 1,100 sq ft. The testing services
a strategic partnership with Aurangabad- offered in the Lab include sterility testing, rapid
based United CIIGMA Hospitals. Through
this investment, CARE Hospitals will have a bioburden
majority stake in United CIIGMA Hospitals testing, pyrogen
and will be present across 3 cities in the testing, advance
state. The CARE Hospitals network spans 17 membrane
healthcare facilities in 8 cities and 6 states of filtration and
the country. CARE Hospitals was instituted in other pharma
1997 as a single speciality Cardiac Hospital in QC microbiology
Hyderabad with 100 beds and 20 cardiologists. applications.
Since then, the group has evolved The MAT Lab
exponentially to become India’s leading multi- includes a
speciality hospital network with a focus on vibrant space for
tier 2 cities offering 30 clinical specialities, certified training,
60 per cent of the network’s capacity is based application support, feasibility studies and method
in high-growth tier 2 cities of the country. development for pharma and biopharma industries.
The Aurangabad based 300 bedded United The lab offers customisable solutions and services that
CIIGMA Hospitals is an accomplished super help pharmaceutical and biopharma companies as well
speciality tertiary care hospital which has over as regulatory to improve their processes from drug
the last decade become a centre of excellence discovery, development to manufacturing.
in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.

14 COMPANY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Allergan Healthcare Aesthetics strengthens
presence in medical aesthetics market

Bengaluru-based Allergan intended to the company’s commitment to
Healthcare India has launched restore and create provide state-of-the-art options in
Juvéderm VOLUX in India a volume of the face. The
under its business unit of launch of Juvéderm VOLUX the medical aesthetics market in
Allergan Aesthetics. Allergan in India further strengthens India. There is an increasing
Aesthetics has obtained all the need for medical aesthetics
necessary approvals from the globally and in India due to
Central Drugs Standard Control patients’ desire to empower
Organisation (CDSCO) office
before launching this product their confidence. As part of their
in India. Juvéderm VOLUX is a continuing medical education
combination of Hyaluronic acid via the programmes offered by
25 mg + Lidocaine hydrochloride Allergan Medical Institute (AMI),
3 mg and is an injectable implant healthcare professionals can be
trained on the use of this new
treatment.

Cadila Pharma Novo Nordisk, Roche
join hands to enhance
launches drug to diabetes care for children

treat uncontrolled Novo Nordisk Education Foundation (NNEF) and Roche
Diabetes Care India (RDC) have signed a Memorandum
type 2 diabetes of Understanding (MoU) to improve access to care for
underprivileged children living with Type 1 diabetes (T1D)
Ahmedabad-based Cadila in India. This partnership is part of a global collaboration
Pharmaceuticals has launched the between the two parties and will impact close to 4,000
generic versions of sitagliptin in India children with T1D in India. It will also provide education
under the brand names Jankey and and training for doctors
Sitenali to address type 2 diabetes. and nurses, and enhance
Sitagliptin is a drug from the class of awareness about diabetes
and its management
DPP-4 inhibitors, and a among children with
one-of-its-kind drug T1D and their families.
for the treatment of Support will include
high glucose levels in free diabetes monitoring
the blood, also known and management kits
as hyperglycaemia. including insulin pens,
High blood glucose can needles, insulin cartridges,
lead to life-threatening glucometers, strips, and lancets. The partnership will provide
complications such as care to people living with diabetes across specified centres
atherosclerosis, stroke, affiliated with NNEF in 12 states and one union territory
heart attack, retinopathy, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu,
Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar
neuropathy and nephropathy. The Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Jammu & Kashmir. This
company has also launched a potent partnership is part of NNEF’s Changing Diabetes in Children
combination of Sitagliptin and (CDiC) programme - a public-private partnership that
Metformin and branded it as Jankey M. provides free life-saving medicine and supplies for children
Sitagliptin has a strong clinical profile and young people living with Type 1 diabetes in low- and
and the potential to revolutionise the middle-income countries up to 25 years of age.
treatment of type 2 diabetes for millions
of people who do not achieve the
targeted blood sugar level with currently
available anti-diabetic medications.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com COMPANY NEWS 15

Zenara Pharma to Sun Pharma
manufacture, sell generic announces
of Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug territory
expansion of
Hyderabad-based Zenara Pharma, a fully owned subsidiary of acne medication
Biophore India Pharmaceuticals, has announced that it has received supply
approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation
(CDSCO) to manufacture and sell Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir tablets Mumbai-based Sun Pharmaceutical
in a combi pack as a treatment option for patients with mild to Industries and Cassiopea, a
subsidiary of Ireland-based Cosmo
moderate symptoms of COVID-19. Pharmaceuticals, have announced
The tablet, which will be sold under the signing of addendums to the
the brand name ‘Paxzen’, is being License and Supply Agreements
manufactured at Zenara’s US FDA- for WINLEVI (clascoterone) cream
approved state-of-the-art facility in 1 per cent expanding the territory
Hyderabad. This approval by the to include Japan, Australia, New
CDSCO has been granted under the Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.
emergency authorisation route considering the unmet medical need Under the terms of the agreements,
in COVID-19 for an effective and affordable therapy for the patients. Sun Pharma will receive from
This product’s breakthrough approval in the US was given by the US Cassiopea the exclusive right
FDA in December 2021 and is indicated for the treatment of mild- to develop and commercialise
to-moderate COVID-19 in adults. WINLEVI in Japan, Australia,
New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico and
Fujifilm opens 2 new NURA Russia. Cosmo will be the exclusive
health centres for cancer screening supplier of the product. Cassiopea
will receive an upfront payment of
Japanese firm Fujifilm Corporation has announced the opening of $7 million, potential regulatory and
two new NURA health screening centres in Gurugram and Mumbai sales milestones and customary
focusing on cancer and lifestyle diseases screening in India. In double-digit royalties on net sales.
February 2021, Fujifilm opened its first NURA health screening centre A first-in-class topical androgen
in Bengaluru, India to launch a health screening service business in receptor inhibitor, WINLEVI was
emerging countries. NURA utilises Fujifilm’s medical devices, capable approved by the US Food and Drug
of providing high-definition images, as well as medical IT systems Administration (FDA) in August
based on AI technology that are designed to support doctors carry out 2020 for the topical treatment of
screening and tests for cancer and lifestyle diseases. With the addition acne vulgaris in patients 12 years
of two sites in Gurugram and Mumbai, Fujifilm will offer screening of age and older. WINLEVI is the
for cancer and lifestyle diseases in a total of three NURA sites. The first FDA-approved acne drug with
company will continue to establish new NURA sites to further expand a first-in-class mechanism of action
its health screening service business in emerging countries. Fujifilm’s in nearly 40 years.
health screening service business in India became recognised under
the Supply Chain Resilience Projects in the Indo-Pacific region
promoted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry,
receiving high acclaim as an initiative that uses digital technology to
contribute to solving social issues in emerging economies.

16 START UP NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

KNYA Med raises seed funding
from DSG Consumer Partners

Mumbai-based startup KNYA and has developed proprietary of which 3 million have joined in
Med, an online medical apparel medical scrubs and lab coat the last 5 years. The government
brand, has raised seed funding, aprons, which are backed by of India has been focused on
led by DSG Consumer Partners, science and technology to offer increasing the penetration of
with participation from the comfortable and fashionable doctors and nurses to support the
promoter family of Narayana medical apparel. Doctors and rise in disease rates. KNYA Med
Health and Cipla Health amongst nurses work an average 12-15 aims to address the gap in making
others. The capital fund raised hours per day and performance doctors lives’ more comfortable
will be used for product R&D, apparel is the need of the hour to with their medical apparel.
hiring across the company, as well help enhance their performance.
as for branding and marketing. There are close to 8 million
KNYA Med has over 120 SKUs medical professionals in India out

Pharma majors lead FHealth Accelerator
Rs 51 Cr investment
round for Eyestem steps in to support

Eyestem, a Bengaluru-based cell therapy startup, health tech startups
has raised Rs 51 crore in a Series A round led
by three pharma majors - Biological E. Limited, FHealth Accelerator has launched the first
Alkem, NATCO and Anurag and Karan Bagaria, batch of its accelerator programme. The startup
promoters of Kemwell Biopharma. Existing accelerator has been designed to support and
investors Endiya Partners and Kotak Private accelerate the growth of healthcare focussed
Equity also participated in this round, valuing startups in their early revenue stages. The
Eyestem at Rs 371 crore post money. Post this accelerator plans to deploy over $1.5 million across
funding, the startup will remain focused on 8-10 companies over three batches in FY 23. The
solidifying its cell therapy platform and moving accelerator programme is backed by Vaidya Sane
its flagship product for dry age-related macular Ayurved Laboratories also popularly known as
degeneration (AMD) through early clinical trials ‘Madhavbaug,’ one of India’s largest Ayurveda
of an international standard. Eyecyte-RPE,
the company’s patented flagship product, is an Cardiac Care clinics chain
experimental treatment for dry AMD and the having a network of over
company has other products in the pipeline for the 270 clinics across seven
treatment of incurable diseases affecting humanity. states. Along with capital, the
Eyecyte-RPE replaces damaged retinal pigment accelerator will provide advice
epithelium cells and is designed to restore sight for and mentorship, support and
patients in early stages of Macular Degeneration opportunities to leverage
or arrest loss of vision for those in later stages. The their distribution network
product is allogenic, administered by a surgical and research facilities and
procedure and is patented in India and abroad. access their more than 1 lakh
active patient base. The focus
is on startups that work in
the areas of D2C, home healthcare, telemedicine,
patient-centric innovations, medtech and digital
therapeutics. The accelerator is based in Mumbai
but invites applications from all over India. The
group’s recent strategic investment into Raphacare,
a digital health diagnostic care company helped the
company expand its user base and access Tier II
and III markets, and set the tone for the launch of
the accelerator.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com START UP NEWS 17

Mylab unveils C-CAMP unveils
advanced innovation dedicated
centre for diagnostics accelerator
programme for
Pune-based startup Mylab Discovery Solutions has announced digital health
the opening of India’s most advanced Innovation Centre for startups
diagnostics in Pune. ‘Mylab Global Innovation Centre’ was
inaugurated by Dr Cyrus S Poonawalla, CMD, Serum Institute Bengaluru-based Centre for Cellular
of India. The centre will develop and commercialise pioneering and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP),
a Department of Biotechnology
diagnostic innovations in (DBT) supported- initiative, has
diverse fields including launched a dedicated accelerator
molecular, serology, programme, India Digital Health
immunology, automation, Accelerator (IDHA). It will identify,
robotics, AI-based diagnostic fund & fast-track promising digital
solutions, devices and health startups which are working
biosensors. This futuristic on path-breaking technologies to
centre aims to drive cutting- improve health & have a strong
edge research and advance potential for growth and scalability.
impactful solutions to IDHA brings on board several
address healthcare challenges national & international public
for Indian and international markets. Spread over 42,000 sq as well as private stakeholders
ft, the centre will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to nurture emerging digital
and comprehensive research capabilities that enable research innovations in the health-tech
scientists and engineers to bring ideas to life. domain with a larger aim of
improving affordability, access,
IIT-K launches NIRMAN & quality of healthcare delivery
Accelerator Programme at scale in India & other low, &
middle-income countries across
Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, the technology the globe. The IDHA programme
business incubator at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur will look toward enabling solutions
(IIT-K) has launched the NIRMAN Accelerator Programme, that digitise screening, monitoring,
supported by the Department of Science and Technology, and telehealth for faster diagnosis,
Government of India. The programme will focus on the better patient surveillance &
manufacturing startups engaged in healthcare, to help them improved healthcare delivery for
overcome the challenges large populations not only in India
from their prototype but also beyond. Moreover, it
to market journey. A will create a successful model for
total of 15 startups are more such cross-border ecosystem
being selected under collaborations to support next-
the programme, where generation deep-tech across the
they will be granted the world.
opportunity to accelerate
their product journey
from lab to market. The
best performing startups
among the cohort of
15 startups will receive a cash award of up to Rs 10 lakh. The
six-month-long programme will be divided into four segments,
namely – (i) Principles of Product Growth, (ii) Engineering
Acceleration, (iii) Navigating the Compliance Puzzle, and (iv)
Leading to next-stage growth.

18 COVER BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

DRIVING
UP DRUG
DISCOVERY

As India takes baby steps in the field of drug
discovery, it becomes crucial that the government
steps up and provides requisite support to usher
in a conducive environment for pharma companies
to excel. Concrete measures are warranted to
boost and promote drug discoveries by Indian
players to add another dimension to the larger
Aatmanirbhar Bharat mission. Let’s explore further.

On July 5, Aurigene Discovery Technologies, a while undertaking clinical POC studies for a few
clinical stage biotech company committed to programmes on its own.
bringing novel therapeutics for the treatment
of cancer and inflammation and a wholly owned Besides Aurigene, many other large and small
subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has announced companies have been spending on drug discovery
drug discovery, development and commercialisation and development research using the latest available
partnership with EQRx, which operates as a Information Technology tools such as artificial
biotechnology company in the US, focused on re- intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
engineering the process from drug discovery to patient
delivery with the goal of offering a market-based In February this year Excelra, Hyderabad-based
solution for the rising cost of medicines. company specialises in Algorithms, Biomarker
Discovery, Drug Discovery, Drug Repurposing,
The partnership combines Aurigene’s small Immuno Oncology, Knowledgebase has entered into a
molecule drug discovery platform and EQRx’s collaboration with X-Chem, a leader in small molecule
pioneering business model to accelerate the drug discovery services for pharmaceutical and biotech
development of drug candidates in the areas of companies to accelerate preclinical drug discovery and
oncology and immune-inflammatory diseases and aid scientists to find new drug candidates for currently
improve global access to innovative medicines. hard-to-drug targets.

Based in Bengaluru and Kuala Lumpur, This synergistic new partnership between Excelra’s
Aurigene has developed deep expertise in cancer GOSTAR and X-Chem’s RosalindAI will enable
and inflammatory disorders, and has continuously unique and powerful tools to predict small molecules,
invested in its people resources and infrastructure chemical, biological, and physical properties,
over the years. In the two decades of working with accelerating time and resource-intensive stages of
pharma, biotech and academic partners, Aurigene drug discovery from hit identification to preclinical
has contributed to delivering 16 small molecule candidate selection.
and peptide drug candidates, currently in clinical
development. Aurigene has also out-licensed several Excelra noted that the GOSTAR’s proprietary
first-in-class and best-in-class compounds to pharma data set underwent rigorous analysis and large-
and biotech companies for global clinical development, scale machine learning model building to predict
drug solubility in a recent joint study. X-Chem’s
RosalindAI delivered superior and actionable

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER 19

results than other similar analyses using well-known state-of-the-art-of labs facilities and collaboration
publicly available datasets. The results confirmed between industry and academia and partnership
that RosalindAI’s proprietary models are designed between private and public players are on the rise in
specifically to address challenges in chemical the area of drug discovery owing to factors such as
datasets, and when trained on the larger, more rising prevalence of various chronic diseases, rising
diverse GOSTAR data, yielded models twice as better healthcare expenditure, and patent expiration of
than models trained on other datasets. certain popular drugs across the globe. The global
population is facing a growing burden of various
Adding to the list of collaboration between public diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes,
and private firms in the drug discovery space is cancer, respiratory diseases, and neurological
KnowDis and IIT Delhi as both have collaborated to disorders, which is significantly fueling the demand for
accelerate drug discovery using AI. The collaboration new and innovative drugs.
aims to develop cutting-edge AI models that could
discover potential antibodies essential for treating The exponentially growing pharmaceutical industry
brain diseases. owing to the rapid growth of biopharmaceuticals is
expected to drive the drug discovery market in the
KnowDis noted that the collaboration aims forthcoming years. The biopharmaceutical industry is
to develop an algorithm that will predict, with growing at a rapid pace owing to the rising investments
high-throughput, antibodies effective in treating by the government and corporate for the development
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease of new medicines to treat chronic diseases. Moreover,
and Parkinson’s. This will result in drugs becoming the favorable government regulations coupled with
more affordable as it will lead to quicker development the active role of the authorities is fueling the drug
of effective therapies for dementia, and Alzheimer’s discovery market growth.
disease, reducing the long wait for treatment. The
process of designing and producing antibodies is time- Academics
consuming and expensive but an algorithm can add
value to channelling laboratory work. A number of foreign universities are providing
courses on drug discoveries with a range of
On the other hand DFE Pharma, a global leader specialisations. Some universities emphasise on
in pharma- and nutraceutical excipient solutions, the design of drugs, while others aim to develop
announced the launch of its new Center of Excellence student’s research skills and provide the information
“Closer to the Formulator” (C2F) in Hyderabad. of drug discovery process from both a scientific and
The C2F center helps pharmaceutical companies commercial (bio-business) view. Pharmaceutical
to shorten the time from a concept to a finished aspects are also taken into consideration by some
commercial product through expertise in all phases of universities while teaching drug discovery that
pharmaceutical development. covers advanced pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical
analysis, drug design, pharmacology, proteomics and
The US-based Enveda Biosciences is opening pharmacogenomic. Not lagging behind in offering
a lead optimisation laboratory in Genome Valley, the best training skills to the students the Indian
Hyderabad—the “Life Science Capital of India,” universities too are offering courses on drug discovery.
which is home to more than 200 life science and
pharmaceutical companies including Novartis and Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal
Lonza. Enveda’s 24,000-sq ft space there will bolster Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal, has
the company’s growing workforce in India and enable it invited applications for Executive Training Programme
to more efficiently optimise lead compounds to identify on Drug Development and Regulatory Science. The
clinical drug candidates. The company is also building executive programme has been jointly designed and
out an advanced drug discovery and development delivered by the Centre for Regulatory Science, PSPH,
centre in the heart of Boulder, Colorado in the US. MAHE in collaboration with the European Center of
Pharmaceutical Medicine (ECPM), University of Basel,
Its not only the proper, strong infrastructure and and Roche, India.
support system, drug discovery also requires a skilled
workforce. In this direction companies are working on Mathura-based Sanskriti University’s School of
hiring skilled and talented scientists. Sai Life Sciences Pharmacy has opened its research centre with the
has commenced recruitment for over 100 scientific name ‘Drug Discovery and Development Centre.’
positions across medicinal chemistry and biology to The centre will help in providing a conducive and
bolster the company’s plans of achieving scale, scope rewarding environment for faculty and students
and speed in its discovery business. All the positions to ignite and sustain a passion for knowledge and
will be based at the company’s Integrated Research & excellence, which will generate future leaders with
Development campus in Hyderabad. innovative and creative minds.

The developments such as hiring, setting up of

20 COVER BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Drug Discovery Market Size, 2020 to 2030 (USD Billion)

Source: Precedence Research

Challenges of global pharma production of generics and 20 per
cent of exports are being catered by the Indian pharma
Pharma companies in the drug discovery space industry. The Drug Pricing Control
need to have organised programmes and capabilities, Order (DPCO) limits the pricing of
along with a large risk-taking appetite, to be able to certain drugs in India. Thus, there
bring novel molecules to the market. These are some are chances of uncertainties in
important reasons why the majority of pharmaceutical getting the return of investments
companies in India pursue incremental innovation on new chemical entities,” opines
rather than invest in novel drug discovery. Akshay Daftary, Director,
SIRO Clinpharm.
Talking about sharing the risk responsibilities,
Glen Saldanha, Chairman and Dr Neeraj Sood, Professor and Vice
Managing Director, Glenmark Dean- Research, University of
Pharmaceuticals says, Southern California Price
“There is a need to establish a School of Public Policy says,
robust ecosystem of innovation “On the whole, the process of drug
that enables collaboration with discovery takes as much as 10 years
academia, public institutions, to get a market-ready product.
startups, along with pharmaceutical For instance, in the US, a company
charges a very high price for a new drug
and biotech companies where part of the financial risk
can be shared by the government. An initiative along to justify the investment made for the discovery of that
the lines of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme drug. It is a very risky process because a lot of drugs
(PLI) scheme announced in this year’s budget comes fail during the research. So, this requires a big reward
to mind.” at the end, which is not there in countries like India.
There is not enough mature capital market to fund the
The life sciences industry invests billions of dollars drug R&D for 10 years and wait for the reward later.
in a drug or a product before it even reaches the It is only feasible for big global pharma companies.
market. These drugs and products have a far-reaching And these big companies are doing a lot of pre-clinical
impact on human health, and people attach huge studies in India.”
expectations to them. One of the biggest incentives
for investing in the research and development of new Echoing similar views Deepak
drugs is the return on investment (RoI). However, Jotwani, Assistant Vice
there is a low RoI because many ‘New Chemical President & Sector Head -
Entities (NCE)’ fail during the development phase. Corporate Ratings, ICRA
says, “Drug discovery requires
“This problem is not unique to India, but it is one sizable investments in R&D, an area
of the biggest challenges here. The Indian market has
majorly been a generic industry as almost 10 per cent

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER 21

Drug Discovery Market - Growth Rate by Region

Source: Mordor Intelligence

where Indian companies have lagged as compared to 95 for promoting collaborative R&D in drugs and
their global peers. Incentives from the Government pharmaceuticals sector with the following specific
of India for encouraging R&D spend and a robust objectives: To synergise the strengths of publicly
regulatory framework safeguarding the interests of funded R&D institutions and Indian pharmaceutical
pharma companies, will help the industry to scale up industry. To create an enabling infrastructure,
their investments in the drug discovery space.” mechanisms and linkages to facilitate new drug
development. To stimulate skill development
Plugging the gaps of human resources in R&D for drugs and
pharmaceuticals; and To enhance the nation’s self-
The rapidly changing economic, trade and reliance in drugs and pharmaceuticals especially in
intellectual property scenario, nationally and areas critical to national health requirements. Under
internationally poses many challenges including this programme, so far 50 industry-institutional
the challenge of becoming leaders and competitors alliances have taken place.
globally. This necessitates a shift in the approach
of the pharmaceutical industry to move away from In order to acquire leadership positions in drug
manufacturing only known drugs through innovative discovery and development and to continue to excel
process routes to discovering and commercialising in the formulations, the government recognised that
new molecules. the human resources/talent pool is very critical.
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education &
The accumulated knowledge of the traditional Research (NIPER) at SAS Nagar (Mohali) was set up
medicinal system and large bio- diversity of our in 1998 and was declared as an Institute of National
country offer a great advantage to the drug industry. Importance. During 2007-08, six new NIPERs
However, at present, most of the Indian drug firms, were started at Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Hajipur,
due to their small size compared to international Hyderabad, Kolkata and Raebareli with the help of
operators, are not in a position to invest in a Mentor Institutes. Subsequently, NIPER at Madurai
viable new drug development programme - drug was approved in 2012. During 2015-16, the Finance
development being a risky, resource intensive & time Minister in his Budget Speech announced 3 new
consuming process. At the same time several Indian NIPERs for the states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra
academic institutions and national laboratories have and Rajasthan. Another NIPER is proposed to be set
established impressive infrastructure and developed up at Bengaluru, Karnataka.
excellent expertise in selected areas of drug
development. Thus, this is a strong case for industry- NIPERs have taken the lead, prepared draft
institution interaction. proposal & after detailed inter departmental
consultations identified areas for Drug Discovery
Recognising the profound influence of R&D on and Development (four diseases where already
the prospects and opportunities for the growth of the reached proof of concept stage - Antimicrobial
Indian Drug Industry, Department of Science and Resistance, Oral Cancer, Chronic obstructive
Technology (DST), Government of India mounted pulmonary disease and Breast Cancer) and Drug
the programme on drug development during 1994-

22 COVER BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Can computer models of
the brain pave the way to
cost-effective drug discovery?

« The brain is an extremely complex network of
about 100 billion neurons, and around quadrillion
- Prof. connections.

V Srinivasa Dysfunction in such a complex network follows
certain standard patterns of breakdown, just like
Chakravarthy, a worn out belt in a washing machine. In order
to create effective drugs, one has to study these
Department of patterns of neural network degradation and develop
drugs that can arrest that degradation. In short –
Biotechnology, the drugs must seek to repair the network and not
kill a germ.
IIT Madras,
Since an adequate understanding of the brain
Chennai circuits is unfortunately unavailable, pharmaceutical
companies adopt the only path possible – extensive
Developing drugs for brain disorders poses empirical testing. Once a reasonable candidate drug
challenges that are unique and quite is selected, it is first tested on model organisms in
distinctive from those that arise in the which the conditions similar to the human version
treatment of infectious diseases. Even in the case of of the disease can be recreated. If these preclinical
commonly used drugs for brain disorders, there is a studies prove to be successful, the drug is taken
considerable uncertainty in effectiveness, variability further for clinical trials with human subjects over
in individual response, and high probability of side a series of phases numbered from 0 to 4. The entire
effects. In several brain disorders (eg. epilepsy or process typically takes about 15 years, at an expense
Parkinson’s disease), the disease that responds to of the order of a billion dollars per drug. Therefore,
medication in early stages, might later evolve into pharma companies welcome any methodological
an intractable variety unresponsive to medication. A alternatives to reduce the time and expense involved
common obstacle faced by neuro drugs is the lack of in drug development.
a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism
of the drug action, not just at chemical level, but in Over the last half century, computing technology
terms of manifest symptoms. has emerged as the third pillar of scientific research,
after theory and experiment. Through computer
These difficulties facing the effectiveness of neuro models it is now possible to reduce the cost of
drugs seem to have their origins in the philosophical research, which is often considerable in biology.
foundations of Western medicine which rests There have been proposals to use computer models
on the ‘germ theory of disease’. The germ theory for cost-effective drug discovery.
states that diseases are caused by certain ‘germs’, -
microorganisms like the bacteria, viruses or prions, Researchers Ildiko Aradi and Peter Erdi propose
- that can invade the body and produce the cellular creation of computer models that describe the
damage that underlies the disease. Thus, if a germ is effect of drugs not just in terms of its interactions
the cause, it is only logical that successful treatment with a receptor on some cell, but in terms of its
of the disease must aim at targeting the germ and effect on disease symptoms. The authors describe
destroying it. The germ theory provides the comfort such a valiant modelling effort – Computational
of holding up a convenient target, a tangible bulls- Neuropharmacology.
eye at which the clinician can direct a precise “magic
bullet” – an effective drug – and destroy the germ The emerging field of Computational
and with it the disease. Neuropharmacology seeks to describe the effect of a
drug, which acts at molecular and chemical level, on
But the germ theory does not take us very far in the symptoms like, for example, tremor or abnormal
unravelling the complexities of most brain disorders, eye movements. It is indeed an ambitious aim since
rendering the search for a magic bullet also futile.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER 23

such models must necessarily be developed SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE
as large, multiscale models that explain how AREA OF DRUGS & PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH
the effects at molecular level cross several
intervening layers of hierarchy like cellular ● Clinical Trials
level, circuit level, systems level etc. and finally ● Patents - Product Patents: Filed 6 product patent
manifest outwardly as behaviour.
applications based on 3 projects
Computer models of the kind envisioned ● Process Patents: Filed 12 process patent applications
by Aradi and Erdi, though challenging, are
not impossible to construct. As a case in based on 4 projects
point, the researchers describe a model of
the action of epileptic drugs. Epilepsy is a Source: DST
disease characterised by transient spread of
abnormal electrical activity over large parts of GLOBAL DRUG DISCOVERY MARKET
the brain, accompanied by temporary loss of
consciousness. Market Size in 2021 $74.91 Billion

Brain’s activity is constantly regulated by a Market Size by 2030 $161.76 Billion
balance of excitatory and inhibitory effects. It is
when excitatory effects dominate that one sees Growth Rate from 2021 to 2030 CAGR of 8.9%
the unregulated synchronised brain activity as
in epilepsy. Therefore, a good computational Largest Market North America
neuropharmacological model of epilepsy must
describe: the binding of the drug with the Fastest Growing Market Asia Pacific
relevant receptors in the brain, the effect of that
binding on certain ion channels that control the Leading Companies Pfizer Inc.,
current flows into neurons, the altered activity GlaxoSmithKline PLC,
of neurons due to the change in currents, and Merck & Co. Inc., Agilent
finally the altered activity of the brain circuits Technologies Inc., Eli
at large scale due to the altered activity of the Lilly and Company, F.
constituent neurons. Hoffmann-La Roche
Ltd, Bayer AG, Abbott
The Computational Neuroscience Laboratory Laboratories Inc.,
at IIT Madras, headed by me, had developed a AstraZeneca PLC,
model of the effect of Parkinson’s drug L-Dopa Shimadzu Corp
on the manifest movements of a Parkinson’s
patient. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by Source: Precedence Research
loss of cells in a tiny part of the brain known as
Substantia Nigra pars compacta. Although not Discovery (based on ICMR 2019 report on top ten
a purely motor disease, PD is characterised by diseases in India).
slowness of movements or even tremor. The
model describes how the drug administered Besides NIPERs, the government has supported in
at a given dosage, depending on the degree of setting up national facilities in drugs discovery space
cell loss, determines the effect on the motor in different institutes such as NIPER, Chandigarh;
symptoms. Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata;
CDRI, Lucknow; The Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
It is desirable that models of this kind Bangalore; Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
are developed for other brain disorders also. (CCMB), Hyderabad; Institute of genomics and
The only obstacle to such an enterprise at the Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi.
moment is the lack of sound understanding of
the disease processes at systems level. However, The pandemic has brought the pharmaceuticals
with sustained effort one may hope that even sector into sharp focus. Whether it is lifestyle, or
these obstacles will be ultimately overcome, medicines, or medical technology, or vaccines, every
paving the way to a cost-effective, quantitative aspect of healthcare has received global attention over
neuropharmacology. With our proven strengths the last two years. In this context, addressing the first
in computer science and mathematics in India, it Global Innovation Summit of the Pharmaceuticals
may be expected that Indian academic institutes sector in November 2021 Prime Minister Narendra
make rapid strides, occupying a leadership Modi said that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has
position in this important area in the future. also risen to the challenge.

The Prime Minister envisioned creating an
ecosystem for innovation that will make India a leader
in drug discovery and innovative medical devices.
“Policy interventions are being made based on wide
consultation with all stakeholders. India has a large
pool of scientists and technologists with a potential
to take the industry to greater heights. This strength
needs to be harnessed to ”Discover and Make in
India,” Modi added.

Sanjiv Das
[email protected]

24 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“We plan to introduce 25 new
therapies by 2025 globally, with
focus on oncology & hospital products”

« and formulations developed are used across the
US, Western Europe, Japan, Latin America, and
Sai Sethuraman, Australia. In addition to driving innovation, the
centre can also help make our innovations available
India Head for Global to patients who need them by ensuring continuity
of supply of medicines globally. It will provide
Product Development, technical guidance and process support to several
of Pfizer’s manufacturing sites by troubleshooting
Pfizer manufacturing issues, investigating technical or
product quality issues, resolving raw material
In a significant move to bring critical research supply disruptions by identifying and qualifying
and development (R&D) capabilities under one new vendors and contributing to continuous
roof, American firm Pfizer has set up a global improvement.
drug development centre at the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Madras Research Park in Chennai. What new launches are in the pipeline for
With an investment of more than Rs 150 crore, this the Indian pharma market in 2022 & beyond,
61,000 sq ft research and technology centre will through this centre?
be a part of a network of 12 global centers set up
worldwide, and it is the first and only one at present Globally, we plan to introduce 25 new therapies
being set up by Pfizer in Asia. To find out more about by 2025, with a particular focus on hospital products
this new development, BioSpectrum interacted and oncology. The work at this centre can serve
with Sai Sethuraman, India Head for Global several of these therapy areas. The centre will
Product Development, Pfizer. Edited excerpts; develop small molecules including solid doses and
sterile injectables. It would cater to products across
How do you plan to enhance pharma Pfizer’s portfolio with a strong emphasis on Pfizer’s
innovation in India with this new centre? global hospitals business, which develops injectable
products (parenteral) for patients admitted in
Pfizer is the largest pharma anchored tenant hospitals. Product development is integrated at
in IIT Madras Research Park – amongst India’s this centre, which makes logistics and collaborative
top university-based research parks and with working easier. The combined capabilities of this
proximity to a leading academic research institute. centre will include - General Chemistry, Process
At the centre, we have product innovation for Safety & Engineering, Oncology (API & Drug
global markets, sterile injectables finished Product), Advanced Analytical Characterisation,
dosage development, Active Pharmaceutical Stability Chambers, Material Characterisation
Ingredient (API) development and analytical Forensic & Particulate, and Microbiology.
method development. The centre drives data
generation and analytical studies to help improve How many new job opportunities are being
our quality, efficiency and safety on both clinical provided at this centre, and under what
and environmental fronts. Product development expertise?
at the centre is integrated, which makes logistics
and collaborative working easier. By bringing Pfizer’s Chennai centre employs 250 scientists
the development of APIs and formulations under and professionals from a range of scientific
one roof, we will be able to speed up the journey disciplines including formulation scientists
from drug development to drug delivery, for the and pharmacists, analytical scientists with
world and for India, from India. In fact, the APIs expertise in process, analytical and formulation
medicinal sciences, life science specialists such as
microbiologists and biotechnologists, chemical
engineers, data scientists, and programme
managers.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 25

What are the challenges facing the Patients’ Lives, we have a programme to strengthen
the startup ecosystem in India. In 2015, we launched
technology workforce in India for the life the Pfizer-IIT Delhi Innovation and IP Programme. It
was a unique incubation accelerator program with the
sciences/pharma sector in India? How can Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer
(FITT) at IIT Delhi, to support, promote and reward
those be addressed? healthcare innovations made in India. This program
has been very successful. In 8 years, we incubated 9
The pandemic has helped to drive digital startups, and supported 25 IP filings in areas such
transformation and technological advancement more as diagnostic innovations, drug delivery platforms,
forcefully in the healthcare and pharma industries. medical devices, medical simulation, and training of
Digital skill sets have become a ‘must have’ and there healthcare workers. Two of these startups are in the
is a huge demand for tech-savvy candidates, who stage of final testing and validation and will soon be
have the required skills. As the gap between demand launched commercially.
and supply for the tech-savvy workforce grows,
companies across industries are now competing for What are your expectations from the
the same talent pool. Furthermore, these skillsets are
transferable across industries further compounding government to support pharma innovation in
the problem of talent scarcity and not just for the
pharma and healthcare sector. We believe India India?
offers a rich and deep talent pool, and an attractive
mix of resources, knowledge, and capabilities that we We believe that we need more emphasis on
are leveraging across our businesses, especially at our Industry-Academia-Government partnerships to
global R&D centre in Chennai. support pharma innovation. The Pfizer-IIT Delhi
Innovation and IP Programme that we launched in
We foresee a few challenges in finding talent to 2015, was an example of this. We had support from
manage emerging technological advancements such a strong coalition of partners, who brought deep
as the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI), and knowledge and expertise to support breakthrough
Big Data analytics. These can position the pharma healthcare innovations by startups in India. Atal
and healthcare sector in direct competition with the Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog came
technology industry. Tech savvy talent also has high forward to provide the startups with access to
aspirations and catering to them may require big their entire network of incubators, facilities and
pharma to collaborate with other industries to meet technical and strategic advisory. IIT Delhi is the
their requirements. There is growing competition now principal incubation partner. Social Alpha is the
between big pharma and the tech industry for high implementation partner and accelerates the lab-to-
quality tech talent where a mindset shift has made market journey. And, Pfizer is the funding partner for
them more conscious of compensation. Therefore, this program. The programme is also being supported
there is a greater need for industry-academia by Agnii, PATH, AHPI, St John’s Research Institute,
collaborations to identify and groom talent in this HCG Hospitals, Cytecare Hospitals, FICCI, UNHIEX,
space, something that Pfizer has been spearheading Google for Startups, Design Alpha, HIMSS, Marico
through its various efforts in the country. Innovation Foundation, and TenX2. The overarching
objective of this programme is in line with the
What are the new opportunities in store for Government’s mission for Made in India and Startup
India and underscores our commitment to innovation
the startups via this centre? and R&D in India.

Pfizer’s Chennai centre is located close to a Dr Manbeena Chawla
multidisciplinary research cluster and incubation [email protected]
centre, as well as IIT Madras – one of the country’s
leading academic research institutes enabling
advanced research. The centre will have close access
to the tech corridor which supports our ambitions
for digital acceleration. IIT Madras Research Park
offers the best of space, infrastructure and a talent
pool to help us expand in the future. Moreover, our
presence offers students from the IIT Madras campus
the opportunity to potentially collaborate on several
research projects or make use of our facilities for
their experiments.

In addition to the possibilities of the centre,
and in line with our strengths in innovation and
our purpose which is ‘Breakthroughs that Change

26 METAVERSE BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

How Metaverse
Fits the Healthcare Bill

The latest McKinsey’s report titled ‘Value Creation in the Metaverse’ says that the potential impact of
this technology could reach $5 trillion by 2030. With its potential to generate up to $5 trillion in value,
the metaverse is too big for companies to ignore, including domestic players. While it is certain
that the metaverse is changing the future of care delivery, financing, and ways of working in the
enterprise by forming new means of interaction between healthcare providers, payers, and patients,
India is yet to catch up with the global pace. Let’s explore the Metaverse-Healthcare scenario in India.

Ever since Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook i.e., being present offline and online, serving patients
to Meta, the world can’t stop taking notice of round the clock. So, it’s all about bringing immersive
metaverse – the latest whole-new-level tech experiences. The convergence of technologies – such
offering buzzing across all industries, including as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR),
healthcare. While this nascent concept was just blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) – is what
about settling in a few minds, there were, in fact, a will shape those immersive experiences in new and
few domestic healthcare players who took the leap innovative ways.
into implementing metaverse in their healthcare
businesses. The word metaverse is a portmanteau from the
original meaning of “Meta (Meta) + Verse (Universe)”,
Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospitals Group where Deloitte has defined and imagined the future
had recently acquired space on Decentraland — a of the metaverse as “a converged world of the virtual
metaverse platform — where users can buy and sell and the real”. To explain in simple terms, Raj Koneru,
property (similar to real estate) and engage in other CEO and Founder, Kore.ai, says, “Metaverse is a
life-like activities to set up a virtual clinic. combination of the physical with the digital or virtual
forms. In today’s scenario, if I go on a website or a
We know the pulse of the healthcare industry mobile app, I’m able to pay my bill or apply for a
is communications. Healthcare folks who believe loan digitally. Well, if I go to a branch of that bank, I
in revolutionising this industry have woken up can physically meet the loan officer or teller, have a
to metaverse and its cousin Web3 as the next big conversation, and accomplish something. So, on one
evolutionary step to increasing patient related hand, I have a web or mobile application where I can
communications and experiences. The industry is do things on my own. On the other hand, I can go and
ushering the next big evolutionary step in digital meet people. The metaverse is somewhere in between.
transformation and metaverse will be a bridge It is a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the
helping organisations follow a hybrid space model,

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com METAVERSE 27

web and the physical world or a virtual representation As the metaverse takes shape,
of the physical branch of a bank or clinic, hospital or a
healthcare provider, for that matter”. Extended Reality will make

The metaverse magic it possible for doctors across

Some latest developments prove that metaverse the world to collaborate and
and virtual reality are gaining a foothold in India’s
healthcare systems. Dr Abhinav Gorukanti, Director cooperate on medical images
of Yashoda Hospitals, which purchased a virtual
space on Decentraland, believes that the future will and build transformative new
be driven by core technologies like the blockchain and
Web 3.0, moving from a centralised to a decentralised tools for teaching, training,
ecosystem. Dr Gorukanti asserts that setting up the
hospital’s presence on Decentraland is the first step and communication. These
towards their efforts and acceptance of decentralised
tech. The management of Yashoda Hospitals is certain technologies will have the
to continue its efforts to upgrade and invest in making
their digital infrastructure future-ready. power to truly democratise

Reenita Das, Partner and Senior Vice President, knowledge and skill-sharing.
Healthcare and Life Sciences, Frost & Sullivan is - Dr Mahesh Kappanayil,
also in agreement with using metaverse for mental
health. “I believe that mental health will have the Professor Paediatric Cardiology, 3D Printing and
greatest benefit from the metaverse. Psychiatrists
and therapists could use immersive technologies to Extended Reality (AR/VR) in Medicine, Amrita Institute
treat many mental health conditions ranging from
PTSD, anxiety, hallucinations, eating disorders, etc. of Medical Sciences and Research Centre
De-addiction related programmes such as smoking
cessation can be built using immersive technologies space and location. Patients will have the ability to
and support,” shares Reenita. consult with specialists across different geographies.
Additionally, this will help to alleviate the shortage of
She further says metaverse has tremendous doctors in countries that are facing this challenge.
potential in healthcare. It can eventually combine
developing technologies such as artificial intelligence, Medical Training: The metaverse will open
virtual reality, augmented reality, the internet of opportunities for highly immersive medical education
medical devices and eventually Web 3.0, the cloud and training. Healthcare workers will be able to
and other intelligent systems into one “eco” system use digital twins to predict how patients will react
that can enable the industry to truly meet the to medications or rehabilitate after surgery. These
quadruple aim of healthcare. digital twins can also be used to test dummies for
developing skill and confidence on part of students.
According to Reenita, it will also disrupt AR and VR technology have a lot of potential for
boundaries created by physical space and time, medical education. A junior surgeon’s skillset can be
bringing in questions of policy, and regulation and upgraded extremely quickly through AR and VR.
standardisation across borders. “Digital health has
been changing healthcare drastically in the last Foreseeing the benefits of metaverse for medical
decade and with the impact of the pandemic, we were training, Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director,
able to experience the best and greatest of digital Apollo Hospitals, chose to partner with California-
technology applications at use to solve critical life- based 8chili Hint VR (Virtual Reality) platform.
threatening challenges every day. The increased use During the announcement of the tie-up, in February,
of telehealth and virtual care during the pandemic as 2022 she said that the move was done to allow both
well as wearable technology have all been enablers to patients and doctors to engage in virtual reality as
this change,” says Reenita. that is the future. “People learn best by doing, which
is why healthcare is a natural fit for immersive VR
She sees 4 areas where the metaverse will have training. Findings support the equivalence and
an impact in healthcare in the next 5 years: a) superiority of VR training, the time to skill mastery
Collaboration; b) Training; c) Clinical care; and d) and the economic savings in this platform as
Mental health. compared to traditional methods,” said Dr Sangita
Reddy while announcing the tie-up. She is confident
Collaboration and Virtual Consultations: that the VR platform will help take VR immersive
The metaverse will eliminate physical boundaries of training at scale and efficiency.

Machenn Innovations, a VR-based training
startup, offers a cloud-based platform that provides
access to more than 1000 medical equipment virtual
training programs. The virtual training platform
helps medical equipment professionals, engineers,
and healthcare professionals access training related
services. Niveditha R, CTO & Co-Founder, Machenn,
explains why such virtual training programs are the

28 METAVERSE BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Psychiatrists and therapists need of the hour. She adds that there are about 5.2
million medical errors registered annually that result
could use immersive in 83,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries associated
with inappropriate medical device usage. These
technologies to treat many errors are committed by low skilled employees who
are less trained in handling sophisticated medical
mental health conditions equipment aided with advanced digital technology.
There is also a dearth of skilled trainers and the
ranging from PTSD, anxiety, medical equipment industry is also manpower-
and financially-intensive. There is also a fear of
hallucinations, eating disorders, equipment damage during classroom-based hands-on
training programmes. VR-based training overcomes
etc. De-addiction related all these limitations.

programmes such as smoking Clinical Care: Reenita Das says that the impact
of the metaverse on clinical care is enormous
cessation can be built using and today surgeons are already using immersive
technologies and robotics to perform minimally
immersive technologies and invasive surgeries. By getting a 3D image of a
patient’s body, surgeons can plan their surgical
support. - Reenita Das, protocols ahead of time and using AR can get ideas
on what obstacles lie ahead during the intervention.
Partner and Senior Vice President,
Amrita Hospital 3D Labs at Amrita Institute
Healthcare and Life Sciences, Frost & Sullivan of Medical Sciences and Research Centre has
been driving innovation by leveraging 3D-Plus
The metaverse will enable more technologies like 3D Printing and Extended Reality
for a whole range of applications in medicine - from
life-like virtual therapeutics surgical planning, precision medicine and patient-
specific solutions, to teaching, research and device
and will empower patients development. A team led by Dr Mahesh Kappanayil,
Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatric Cardiology,
to manage their health and Pediatric CMR Services, AIMS 3D Printing, Virtual
Reality & Innovation Laboratory, Amrita Institute of
perform self-care. It also Medical Sciences and Research Centre, is building
a point-of-care 3D printing lab within the hospital
offers opportunities to help premise to provide a unique multi-disciplinary
ecosystem for innovative use of technology, driven by
healthcare employees build clinical needs. Their Extended Reality Visualisation
Lab takes it another step forward by providing
empathy around the human medical imaging data from fixed physical boundaries
like workstations or even geographical locations by
experience. - Raj Koneru, making them available for immersive visualisation and
interaction irrespective of the location. Commenting
CEO and Founder, Kore.ai about this technology, Dr Kappanayil says, “We are
at the cusp of transformative changes in medicine
There is also a dearth of skilled and healthcare, driven by new-age cutting-edge
technologies. As the metaverse takes shape, Extended
trainers and the medical Reality will make it possible for doctors across the
world to collaborate and cooperate on medical images
equipment industry is also and build transformative new tools for teaching,
training, and communication. These technologies will
manpower- and financially- have the power to truly democratise knowledge and
skill-sharing.”
intensive. There is also a fear
The next horizon in healthcare
of equipment damage during
Accenture Digital Health Technology Vision
classroom-based hands-on

training programmes. VR-based

training overcomes all these

limitations. - Niveditha R,

CTO & Co-Founder, Machenn

Healthcare organisations will

shift part of their operations

to the metaverse, maintaining

their own internal virtual

environments so employees

can work from anywhere and

collaborate in new ways. This

way of life seems futuristic, but

it’s already on its way here. - Puneet B,

metaverse enthusiast

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com METAVERSE 29

2022 report pins metaverse as “the next horizon” Puneet, through his company Fabrik, is constantly
in healthcare. Over the coming years, these new looking for ways to improve healthcare for people
experiences will transform health delivery, from and is confident that metaverse will do the good. He
operating clinical trials to coordinating patient predicts that metaverse’s applications will have wide,
experiences and creating new ways to serve the real-world impact. From instructions to clinicians,
patient. Metaverse is also expected to play a very medical device monitoring and maintenance, remote
critical role in secure authentication that is able to surgeon assistance all the way to personalised
securely provide a patient’s medical information to diagnosis and medicine, metaverse technologies are
a caregiver without having to authenticate with a set to revolutionise healthcare.
physician.
Adding another significant use case of metaverse,
Speaking about more healthcare opportunities in he mentions that just like food insecurity, healthcare
the metaverse, Raj Koneru says, “In the metaverse, insecurity is real and it disproportionately affects
organisations can transform how they interact people in the low- and middle-income countries due
with their customers, and how work itself gets to limited access to primary healthcare. By leveraging
done through immersive collaborative experiences. technology effectively, one can quickly achieve
Healthcare organisations will be able to transcend healthcare security for people around the world and
time and space to simulate interactions, shorten to do so metaverse will be a key enabler.
learning cycles and practice procedures, such as in
surgical training. The metaverse will enable more life- Too big to ignore
like virtual therapeutics and will empower patients
to manage their health and perform self-care. It also According to McKinsey’s latest report titled
offers opportunities to help healthcare employees “Value Creation in the Metaverse”, the potential
build empathy around the human experience.” impact of this technology could reach $5 trillion by
2030. With its potential to generate up to $5 trillion
“At Kore.ai, specific to life sciences, we envision in value, the metaverse is too big for companies
multiple high-value opportunities to leverage to ignore, including domestic players. While it is
conversational AI in the metaverse. These include certain that the metaverse is changing the future
discussing the recommended treatment plan after a of care delivery, financing, and ways of working in
difficult cancer diagnosis; obtaining clinical consent the enterprise by forming new means of interaction
for an experimental therapy; exploring past emotional between healthcare providers, payers, and patients,
trauma as a portion of psychological therapy; and India is yet to catch up with the global pace. Public
identifying non-obvious psychological traits. And and private enterprises need to collaborate at a faster
that’s where conversational AI comes through. We rate to get actionable results in delivering optimum
believe that for those use cases that lend themselves care for the needy.
to the metaverse, over a period of time where there’s
a virtual service provider of some sort, conversational To a large extent, India’s flagship scheme
AI is the basis of that avatar for its very existence and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is playing
functionality. If avatars are the basis of the metaverse, the key role to drive the much-needed digital health
then conversational AI is its engine. I would imagine transformation in the country. ABDM is considered
that in the next few years, there are going to be many a key initiative by India’s National Health Authority
PoCs and experiments, out of which will emerge (NHA) – the backbone of the country’s digital health
use cases that are valuable for the enterprise in the ecosystem. The main aim of ABDM is to bring
metaverse,” envisions Koneru. together an ecosystem of diverse offerings such as
health information systems, digital lockers, patient
Puneet B, a metaverse enthusiast who helps health records, health tech, and telemedicine players.
businesses build metaverse apps, shares that the The ultimate motto is to bring into effect a unified
metaverse will have two primary functions: creating health system that caters to a wide demography of
the ‘Internet of Place’ and the ‘Internet of Ownership’. care seekers.
“Soon, new spaces in the metaverse will transport us
to almost any type of world we can imagine, letting In conclusion, it can be said that the metaverse
us interact with clinicians, peers, and enterprises at might look all fancy and rosy. All that India currently
a distance. And healthcare organisations will shift needs is a technology that can be easily consumed by
part of their operations to the metaverse, maintaining the masses where the majority of the country has no
their own internal virtual environments so employees access to quality healthcare services. If metaverse fits
can work from anywhere and collaborate in new this bill, India’s healthcare sector will contribute a
ways. This way of life seems futuristic, but it’s already major part to the $5 trillion economy aspiration that
on its way here,” shares Puneet. PM Narendra Modi strongly envisions.

Anusha Ashwin

30 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“We leverage India as a market for
supplying great talent for Stryker
and doing great R&D work”

« functions in domestic and other emerging markets.
Since then, the SGTC R&D team has been partnering
Ram Rangarajan, across divisions to drive innovation and research to
Vice President, provide better healthcare solutions.
SGTC – R&D,
Stryker What kind of expertise are brought in with the
SGTC launch?
Stryker, one of the world’s leading medical
technology companies headquartered in the US, The SGTC R&D centre was established in 2006
has opened its new research and development in Gurugram with a focus on accelerating innovation
facility, Stryker’s Global Technology Centre (SGTC), and product development in developed and emerging
at the International Tech Park, Gurugram. The markets. Since then, the SGTC R&D team has been
150,000-square-foot facility is intended to accelerate partnering with our different divisions to launch
innovation in India and globally, and further support products that are making healthcare better for
the company’s mission to make healthcare better. In millions of people in India and across the globe.
conversation with BioSpectrum, Ram Rangarajan, SGTC R&D has garnered a unique space among
Vice President, SGTC – R&D, Stryker reveals all R&D sites of Stryker with established product
more about the new centre. Edited excerpts; development teams for all Stryker divisions under
one roof. The team is trained and equipped to
Please share more details about the identify the unique needs and challenges of surgeons
Stryker Global Technology Centre (SGTC) in and healthcare practitioners from various specialties
Gurugram? to develop prototypes in a short span of time, get
customer feedback and then take the project into the
We have a strong portfolio of innovative development stage.
products and services in Medical and Surgical,
Neurotechnology, Orthopaedics and Spine that help What are the challenges facing the
improve patient and hospital outcomes. The recently technology workforce in India for the life
launched SGTC in Gurugram is a testament towards sciences sector in India? How can those be
our vision of making healthcare better in India. The addressed?
150,000 sq ft facility is one of the leading strategic
innovation hubs for Stryker that will develop and There is no dearth of technological development
deliver innovative products and solutions for India to strengthen the life sciences sector. The pandemic
and other markets globally. It houses over 25 state- has brought the revolution to the lacklustre attitude
of-the art product and clinical labs spread across a of the healthcare sector with the adoption of newer
45,000- sq ft area. The centre houses a world-class and better technologies. Initially, the sector was
Neurovascular Innovation Lab that will be the first apprehensive of adopting these technologies but
of its kind in India. Besides this, it is USGBC (U.S. later started investing heavily in it to deliver state-of-
Green Building Council) LEED Platinum certified and the-art solutions to its stakeholders. It is interesting
offers features for differently abled people. Stryker to note that according to NITI Aayog, the Indian
established its first R&D facility in India more than telemedicine market size is set to increase from $830
15 years ago to provide engineering support to R&D million to $5.5 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of
31 per cent by 2025. There is also a rising demand for
medical devices globally.

Technology remained the root cause of this
fundamental change in the life sciences industry. It
is helping the industry in developing personalised
products and conducting testing in innovative ways.
As a result, technology is making the sector more

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 31

and more efficient and providing improved patient potential, diverse background, identities, and
outcomes as well as employee experience. This pivot experience supporting the teams in achieving the
is also visible in the investment that the industry mission of Stryker, fuel innovation and solve complex
is receiving. In 2022, the investment hit an all- issues. Our vision is to bring Stryker’s legacy of
time high and is expected to go up daily. R&D and innovation to India and leverage world class talent
innovation has acquired a renewed importance for and technology ecosystem.
the sector.
What new launches are in the pipeline for the
Also, with the large number of engineering
graduates India produces each year from top Indian market in 2022 & beyond?
institutions, India has the potential to become a
global hub for R&D for medical devices. Several Stryker is a global medtech company. We
companies have set up their R&D centres in have an established global ecosystem of over 40+
India employing large numbers of engineers and manufacturing facilities spread across the world,
associates. Recognising and incentivising this and we leverage that ecosystem to make sure that
within the framework of Make in India is key. Also, we manufacture products that are competitive and
there is a great opportunity for collaboration and world-class in their quality to address the needs
partnerships with Indian institutions - a strong of different parts of the world. As the centre is
funding mechanism becomes imperative which focused on designing and innovating for markets
can be achieved through capital subsidies and tax across the globe, we continue to leverage our global
incentivisation. manufacturing capacities.

How do you plan to enhance the medtech In terms of region-specific manufacturing, we
have just begun the journey of designing, developing,
market growth in India with this new centre? and manufacturing them. We are driven by our
mission of making healthcare better and are
The medtech ecosystem is undergoing a designing cutting-edge products in India for the
transformation and rapid advances in technology world. Currently, we leverage India as a market for
are creating new opportunities for advancement supplying great talent for Stryker and doing great
in the healthcare industry. Meaningful innovation research and development work. That is our key
can come in many forms like a new feature to make strategy.
a product more useful or a unique way to apply an
evolving technology to a real-world problem. In such To be launched in India soon, SmartMedic, is a
a scenario, investment in R&D is not only the prudent product conceptualised and developed in India and
choice but a necessary one. Science and innovation only for markets like India. This is a platform that
give us the tools to develop products and services that upgrades existing beds in a hospital. It is a connected
improve the lives of caregivers and patients. In each device that measures a patient’s weight and monitors
of the past 5 years, we have invested about 6 to 7 per turn-compliance to prevent bed sores and we will be
cent of annual revenue in research and development. launching it very soon during 2022. Apart from this,
In 2021 alone, Stryker spent $1.2 billion on research Endocart is the other product which was first made in
and development. By the end of that year, we owned India. It houses different endoscopic cameras, light
more than 11,000 patents worldwide, a number we sources, and all other devices.
keep growing. Moreover, we value our employee’s
Dr Manbeena Chawla
[email protected]

32 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“Funding winter appears to be
temporary since fundamentals of
the Indian economy are very strong”

« since. Banks have increased the repo rates. Consumer
sentiment is muted, and this has had deleterious
Colonel Hemraj effects on investments, especially from the traditional
Singh Parmar (Retd), foreign startup investors such as Sequoia and
Co-Founder, DoctCo SoftBank.

India’s healthcare industry has witnessed a The year 2021, though, was a good year for the
remarkable upheaval in the past two years, startups that saw a string of unicorns. But the muted
with the world held to ransom by the pandemic investment scenario has put brakes on the funding
in more ways than one. Gaps in care delivery scene. However, India is likely to emerge as the
were exposed making digital technology take over fastest growing economy in the world. Lot of venture
traditional healthcare practices. Right from raising capitalists are betting big on India. This will keep
and investing funds to precision medical service, funds flowing to good startups with strong business
the healthcare industry is witnessing a paradigm models with scalability. There is no dearth of venture
shift in decision making and prioritising to make the capital. To me, the funding winter appears to be
healthcare process more accessible. temporary since the fundamentals of the Indian
economy are very strong.
Having held many distinguished leadership roles
in the healthcare industry including the CEO of a Even if the global market has been facing
popular chain of hospitals and as Co-Founder of macroeconomic headwinds, Indian startups garnered
DoctCo, Colonel Hemraj Singh Parmar (Retd), in an over $10 billion in funds during the first quarter
interaction with BioSpectrum India, reveals about of 2022, up from $5.7 billion in the same period
the funding challenges faced by healthcare startups in 2021, according to data sourced from Venture
and how out-of-pocket expenses for the patient Intelligence. There could be a temporary lull in
can be considerably reduced. Edited excerpts; funding, but the startup ecosystem would be booming
again soon.
DoctCo is in the process of raising funds. Can
you share your experience about raising the India is a huge & attractive market and the third
funds and the current investment scenario in largest startup ecosystem in the world. Potential
the startup ecosystem? to innovate is very high. We have a huge base of
scientific ecosystem and trained workforce. As per
The Russia-Ukraine war has left a major impact Union Minister Piyush Goyal, India will be a $30
on the global economy. The USD and other European trillion economy in 30 years. Startups will play
currencies have been continuously depreciating a major role in this growth. Good startups will
because of the rising oil and gas prices and inflation therefore continue to thrive and keep getting funded.
has been at an all-time high, reminiscent of the
2008 depression. This has had an adverse impact on Can you share some interesting facts/
consumer spending and investment.
numbers on the medical devices market
Global markets are highly connected. Some of the
recent IPOs in India have not been successful and scenario in India?
most of them have been trading at a discount ever
As per IBEF, India is among the top 20 medical
devices markets globally. The market size was $10.36
billion in 2020 and is likely to grow at a CAGR of 37
per cent to $50 billion by 2025. In the Union Budget
of 2022-23, Government of India made a budgetary
allocation of $11.3 billion for the pharmaceutical and
healthcare sector. Our total healthcare spend is still
less than 5 per cent of the GDP, much less than many
advanced countries. The US spends close to 20 per
cent of its GDP on healthcare.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 33

The Government of India (GoI) has recognised The pandemic proved to be an inflection
medical devices as a sunrise sector under the ‘Make point for a digital transformation in
in India’ campaign in 2014. So, there is a lot of focus healthcare delivery globally but more so in
on indigenisation, but we are currently importing India. There was a newfound acceptance
almost 75-80 per cent of our medical devices. This for digital delivery on part of patients,
is an expensive proposition for most healthcare doctors, healthcare providers and other
facilities since the industry is capital intensive and stakeholders in the treatment value chain.
expensive imports significantly increase the cost Virtual consultations and remote care went
of care, passing the cost directly to the consumer/ up dramatically. Technology adoption is
patient. democratising care, minimising errors,
improving precision and bringing down costs.
Indian medical device exports stood at ($2.51 Lot of new age startups in India are driving
billion) in 2019-20 and are expected to rise to $10 the boom in telemedicine, IoMT devices,
billion by 2025. This focus on exports will give a EMR/EHR, cloud, wearables, AI enabled
boost to the industry and further bring down costs of with predictive analytics, teleradiology, and
healthcare delivery. remote critical care solutions.

How has the medical device landscape underserved and would need major attention in the
changed in India? What led to this change coming years. Our Out-of-Pocket (OOP) expenses are
and how would you perceive its future still one of the highest in the world at more than 50
changes? per cent. This must change.

The pandemic proved to be an inflection point Sustained growth of the domestic medical devices
for a digital transformation in healthcare delivery industry is a prerequisite to meeting the ends of
globally but more so in India. There was a newfound Ayushman Bharat & UN’s SDG goals and improving
acceptance for digital delivery on part of patients, the access and affordability of our healthcare services.
doctors, healthcare providers and other stakeholders The GoI has therefore permitted 100 per cent FDI in
in the treatment value chain. Virtual consultations the medical devices industry.
and remote care went up dramatically.
The government has also recently come up with
Technology adoption is democratising care, an incentive based PLI scheme and has decided
minimising errors, improving precision and bringing to create Medical Device Parks with a special
down costs. Lot of new age startups in India are focus on cancer care/ radiotherapy, radiology and
driving the boom in telemedicine, IoMT devices, imaging medical devices, anesthetics and cardio-
EMR/EHR, cloud, wearables, AI enabled with respiratory medical devices including catheters of
predictive analytics, teleradiology, and remote critical cardiorespiratory category & renal care medical
care solutions. Medical devices have been fueling this devices, and implants including implantable
boom and contributing significantly to the ongoing electronic devices such as cochlear implants and
revolution in healthcare delivery. pacemakers.

Care is slowly moving away from the This is going to make the medical equipment
healthcare facilities. Remote patient monitoring, much cheaper and reduce the costs per bed of
teleconsultations duly facilitated by the state-of-the- new healthcare facilities as also help reduce the
art IoMT devices have assumed a new meaning, thus breakeven/ payback periods for them and improve
obviating the need to visit a medical facility, and overall profitability.
thereby saving on costs, commute, and other allied
expenses for a patient. Precision medicine includes everything from the
unique targeted medical products to diagnosing/
This has proven to be a boon, especially for treating patient-specific ailments leveraging AI.
patients living in smaller towns, rural areas, and These AI & ML based sophisticated devices will drive
other underserved parts of India. precision medicine in cancer care, cardiac sciences,
genomics, and diagnostics. Affordability remains an
All this is not possible without indigenous growth issue but with the fillip to domestic production, costs
and major investments into R&D and domestic of treatment are expected to come down significantly
production of expensive medical devices. in future.

What has made India boost domestic Anusha Ashwin
production of medical devices and the need
for precision medical devices increase?

Our primary healthcare system is broken. Rural
India, home to 67 per cent of the population, remains

34 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“High-speed 5G connectivity
can advance medical device
growth trajectory in India”

« 5G-enabled Precision Healthcare use cases. The
Lab will serve as a conduit for the interplay of
Girish Raghavan, exponential technologies like AI/ML, IoT, Big Data,
Vice President- Edge Computing and Cybersecurity. It will play
Engineering, an important role in ensuring connectivity and
GE Healthcare accessibility to 5G technology to leapfrog into the
next generation of MedTech.
GE Healthcare, a leading global medical
technology, diagnostics, and digital solutions India is an important market for GE Healthcare
innovator, has opened its 5G Innovation Lab globally, and more broadly, a critical hub for the
in Bengaluru – the first for GE Healthcare across medtech sector – from research to manufacturing
the globe. The lab is intended to serve as a testbed to and development capabilities. We are excited to
develop future-ready products and solutions, turning venture into 5G in this market and explore its various
a new corner in innovation by providing expertise use cases across the healthcare landscape, so we can
and a platform for a collaborative ecosystem covering apply these benefits to care delivery practices in India
academia, the healthcare industry and startups to and the world.
explore 5G-enabled precision healthcare use cases.
To find out more in this regard, BioSpectrum spoke India also houses GE Healthcare’s second largest
to Girish Raghavan, Vice President- Engineering, integrated and multidisciplinary research and
GE Healthcare in detail. Edited excerpts; development centre outside the United States – the
JFWTC, which was established over two decades
What is so unique about this lab and why did ago. With the JFWTC representing a pioneering
you choose India to set up the lab? hub of innovation, we were especially confident
about building our 5G Innovation Lab here, to
Today, we find ourselves at a pivotal point further scale our contributions to healthcare while
in time for the medtech sector, which is rapidly researching locally in India. This will give us a keen
rising in prominence with a digital healthcare understanding of the applicability of this technology
transformation upon us. The 5G Innovation Lab, across the spectrum, which we can adopt at the global
we recently inaugurated in Bengaluru, is the first level.
for GE Healthcare across the globe, representing
an important milestone investing in R&D to better
understand and leverage the potential of 5G
connectivity.

The Lab, situated at the John F. Welch
Technology Centre (JFWTC), houses state-of-the-
art infrastructure, including a private 5G network
for testing and development. More so, it provides
expertise and a platform for a collaborative
ecosystem for academia, the healthcare industry,
and startups, facilitating exploration of various

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 35

What challenges do you foresee in the and solutions, so we can turn new corners in
innovation. This, in turn, can help our lead scientists,
implementation of 5G technology in the long technologists and researchers leverage data efficiently
to understand how 5G connectivity can support
run? the delivery of personalised, precision healthcare.
Empowered with these insights, we would hope to
Understanding and adopting new technologies is support the development of accessible and innovative
complex. We must explore the potential of innovative products and next-generation solutions to ultimately
tech in healthcare, essential to transform the sector. improve lives, worldwide.
We are talking about the dawn of the new era with
smarter, quicker clinical decision-making. At GE Healthcare, we are committed to continue
leveraging our clinical expertise, know-how and
While there are a few hurdles we might face along technological and manufacturing capabilities to
the way, the promise of 5G connectivity will disrupt develop innovative medtech solutions. This can help
the patient care continuum – transform diagnosis, deliver quality, personalised and precision care to
therapy, and prognosis, leveraging its massive patients. This includes sustained work across our
bandwidth, high data speeds, low latency, and highly product teams, testing and understanding how
reliable connectivity. to leverage 5G connectivity across the healthcare
spectrum, from virtual tele-consultation and care to
How is this lab going to bring about a robotic surgery in the future. Our fundamental idea,
at the core of our products and services, is to make
revolution in India’s medtech space? the health system smarter.

India’s medtech sector is yet to reach its full We will continue to advance local manufacturing
potential. As one of the fastest growing markets in efforts in the country, in line with the government’s
the global medical devices industry, India is expected vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat.’ We are also striving
to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent. High-speed 5G to provide reliable, low-cost solutions to ensure
connectivity can advance this medical device growth accessibility and affordability of healthcare across
trajectory, pushing the boundaries of innovative India.
healthcare solutions – from remote monitoring
and AI to tele-health services. With the launch of Additionally, GE Healthcare is committed
GE Healthcare’s first 5G Innovation Lab, we are to strengthening the Indian medtech industry
optimistic of the pivotal role it will play as a catalyst through innovative applications of AI & ML. We
for an ecosystem to explore 5G-enabled use cases are employing technologies like AI to identify ways
across the healthcare landscape. to lower medical errors in healthcare, improve the
precision and pace of imaging devices, and move
5G has great potential to impact healthcare, further along the path of predictive medicine.
especially by enabling rapid data-sharing and real- We have key emerging technologies which we
time, high-quality virtual care. It can become the will continue leveraging, with the expectation of
backbone of digital health infrastructure leveraged transforming healthcare over the next decade, while
effectively, helping us reach the last mile with needed further investing in India to build competence,
tele-health solutions. infrastructure and a framework that supports
innovation, for India and the globe.
Our 5G Innovation Lab will serve as a testbed
for our teams to develop future-ready products What new opportunities will be brought out

to the academia & startup space through this

initiative?

We aim to foster collaboration with academia,
the industry and startups by building a cohesive
ecosystem enabling such groups to explore various
use cases of 5G connectivity in Precision Healthcare.
Here, individuals or teams can conduct tests across
various domains to understand the reliability of their
new products or innovations. It will thus open doors
for qualified 5G-enabled exploration to enhance
various sectors that work closely with healthcare.

Sanjiv Das
[email protected]

36 AUTOMATION BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Has Automation Become
Indispensable for Pharma?

« «

Kedar Suvarnapathaki, Dr Firdosh S Gardin,
Chair Medical and Chair Technical and
Regulatory Work Supply Chain Work
Group, OPPI and Group, OPPI and Head
Director – Regulatory – External Supply
Affairs, Janssen India, Operations APMA,
Johnson & Johnson Novartis India Ltd
Pvt Ltd

The pharmaceutical industry may have Leveraging automation
collapsed if the pandemic had hit a decade ago. Ad
hoc automation setups designed by inexperienced Robotics has become an enabler for the pharma
industry engineers would not have offered imminent sector. It allows the industry to be fast-paced
solutions. The pandemic drove the pharma industry and flexible, especially with the latest demands
into realising the benefits of performance & reliability of smaller batch sizes and shorter life cycles of
that industry quality automation brings. This products. Automation has changed the way drugs
caused a rapid shift from low-level automation and medicines are developed, manufactured, and
to high-quality industry robots. They replaced distributed. It offers cleanroom-graded operating
manual, repetitive tasks, & could perform most tasks capabilities, around-the-clock cycle times and
assigned to human pharmacists, with fewer errors. precision. By making them reasonably common in
Automation penetration has gone beyond pharmacies the industry, companies are not only ensuring more
& laboratories now. Look around the pharmaceutical profits but also making a crucial difference.
sector. Automation is everywhere. Artificial
Intelligence (AI) & robots are now being deployed to Digitised clinical trials: The pandemic has all
streamline supply chains, production & packaging as but ascertained that we need effective, more efficient,
well as strengthening their research & development and faster clinical trials. Clinical trials involve data
(R&D) capabilities. Automation has stepped in to fulfil collection at each step of the way. Automation
the long unmet needs of the pharma industry. ensures accuracy, consistency, and quality control.
It eliminates errors and inaccuracies and reduces
To deal with the pandemic, pharma sectors turnaround times of results. It is particularly effective
were forced to quickly adopt digital tools, in identifying and rectifying errors in real-time.
which they are now leveraging to innovate
and develop more efficiently. The growing demand Clinical trials can be made more efficient in
for new medicines and drugs means pharmaceutical certain areas such as case report form (CRF), clinical
manufacturers must continuously increase data management and dataset conversion process.
productivity. Reliance on robotics and automated It can ensure faster data collection, better quality
equipment will not only meet those needs but reap of data and reduced costs. With an automated
huge benefits of automation integration. Robotics clinical metadata management system companies
entails better space utilisation, reduced production can reuse their data, meet regulatory compliances,
downtime and reduced costs. In addition to increased increase data quality, and improve process efficiency.
production flexibility, improved product quality, Automating dataset conversion processes can
better health and safety standards and higher output, eliminate complex programming and make it easy to
automated processes are more efficient in better meet compliances and launch clinical products in the
waste management. market faster.

Optimising the supply chain: Managing
pharmaceutical supplies is time consuming and
laborious especially due to their special warehousing
needs. Automated processes make the procurement,

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com AUTOMATION 37

ordering, shipping, and invoice processing efficient. It the time taken from days to minutes.
reduces operational costs and makes the supply chain
more effective. Challenges of automation

Increasing the use of robots has been significant in In the coming days, pharma will continue to grow
dispensing, kit assembly, light machine-tending, and by adopting newer technologies for automation. At
sorting. Companies have seen better speed, greater the same time there will be several challenges that
accuracy, more reliability, and more flexibility. The companies have to overcome to achieve their strategic
pharma industry manufactures millions of medicines goals.
every week. These medicines must be scrutinised
carefully and safely packed before they are shipped Regulatory challenges: Technical, legal, and
to the distributors. Drug manufacturers need to administrative measures are put in place to ensure
be meticulous in maintaining the correct amount the quality and efficacy of drugs and patient safety.
of medication, its weight, and the exact chemical But with technological advancements changing the
composition. Today, most pharma companies are landscape of the pharma industry at a rapid pace the
using automated processes for managing bottle government can change or amend these regulations.
orientation, collation, capping, and labelling. They Failing to comply can attract hefty fines, business
also monitor operations on a supervisory level by disruptions and legal complications.
checking for fallen bottles, low level supplies and low
hopper levels. High initial cost: Although large businesses
have the bandwidth to invest in new digital solutions,
With recent developments around the Raman small players often lag. Automation integration is
spectroscopy and the pharma industry, companies an expensive affair. This lets legacy systems prevail,
are showing interest in Raman instrumentation. affecting operational efficiency, downtime, and data
Raman spectroscopy can ensure the correctness of processing quotients of the entire industry.
chemical compounds before they are distributed
by measuring the rotational energy changes and Inefficiency and biosimilar drugs: R&D costs
molecular vibration of a tablet. are high, and even with automation accuracy, failure
rate of drugs in trial phases aren’t always favourable.
R&D for innovation: Automation, AI, and This reduces efficiency and increases costs. With
robotics use a set of aligned solutions to streamline biosimilar drugs having plenty of substitutes from
the pharmaceutical research process. Years go by in different manufacturers, companies need to develop
discovering and development of a new drug. Even drugs more quickly and efficiently if they want to
with potential breakthroughs, it can be stuck in the remain profitable and relevant in the market.
clinical or preclinical phase for decades. Automation
brought efficient R&D. It has eliminated laborious Data protection: Digitisation of documents,
processes of tracking tests and results, trial-and- digital signatures, blockchains and smart contracts
error approaches towards process design, and the have been standardised across the pharma industry.
highly time-consuming process of compiling and The primary challenge with data is to deliver these
documenting data for records. By integrating process changes securely. Cybersecurity is paramount to
and product development with R&D, companies can prevent cyberespionage, and prevent data theft,
make a seamless and quick transition from lab to misinformation, or an attack on the overall system.
manufacturing unit.
Modular manufacturing: With treatment
Each patient differs in gender, age and genetics, methods shifting towards a more personalised
and yet people diagnosed with the same disease are approach, companies need to develop and
treated identically. With the advent of automation manufacture multiple batches of different types of
in pharma, there has also been an emergence of drugs. Although modular production is the need
personalised medicine. Automation tools have of the hour most companies lack the technology
significantly improved monitoring the efficacy of required in their manufacturing units to facilitate
newer compounds, treatments and therapies. AI these operations.
and robotics have powered a better understanding
of genomics and genetics, which is helping doctors Having said that, the pharmaceutical industry
prevent diseases, prescribe safer drugs and make has much to gain from AI and robotics. Companies
accurate diagnoses for effective treatment. Pharma is without automation integration are missing out on
using robotics to automate certain specific processes competitive advantage in the market. Automation
such as high-performance liquid chromatography is allowing industry players to make major leaps by
(HPCL) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It increasing flexibility and their capability to react
has revolutionised X-ray crystallography, by reducing to change. The onus is now on pharma companies
to keep utilising advanced technology to build on
their operational capabilities while maintaining data
integrity and security, and patient welfare.

38 SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Synthetic Biology-
The ticket to a sustainable future!

« However, many of these companies failed in the
pursuit of doing it all by themselves- designing the
Suraj Nair, DNA, engineering the organisms, fermentation and
Lead (TechSprouts), manufacturing and downstream processing.
Ankur Capital
The next decade (2010-2020) saw the emergence
The Department of Biotechnology, in February of companies with platform technologies offering
2022 released a foresight paper on synthetic ‘synthetic biology as a service’. These include
biology. This document highlights the policy and companies such as Ginkgo Bioworks (started a bit
regulatory aspects of the field across the world earlier in 2008), Zymergen and Twist Bioscience
and lays the groundwork for a future policy on which have all found success by selling engineered
synthetic biology. As we enter the third decade of organisms and nucleic acids for multiple applications.
synthetic biology, the world has a chance to rethink Divide and conquer was the new rule book to play by:
its future. Synthetic biology can drive us towards
a more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive future Nucletide DNA/RNA Engineering Application
by replacing the dependence on chemical and fossil design and Synthesis Organism Companies
fuel-based products. software Companies Companies
companies
Synthetic biology is the engineering of natural
biologic systems such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi, With companies having specific focus areas,
plants as well as animals to produce the desired technology development intensified and grew
outcomes or products. There are two broad ways to do at a rapid pace leading to key breakthroughs. A
this: (A) the design and construction of new biological design-build-test-learn cycle has been put in place:
parts, devices and systems, and (B) the re-design of computer aided nucleotide design, synthesis and
existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes. testing of DNA/RNA and engineered organisms
using technologies such as CRISPR, pooled oligo
The first ideas on synthetic biology took shape in synthesis, and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)
the early 2000s: characterise the genetic sequences and microfluidic devices and finally storing the data
that perform needed functions, identify the ‘parts’, and training machine learning algorithms to fasten
combine the parts into devices to achieve more the design process. All of this has eventually led to
complex functions, then insert the devices into cells. two key advancements:
The first generation of synthetic biology from 2000
to 2010 saw researchers develop a few of these parts 1. A significant drop in the cost of DNA synthesis
and circuits which were published in the Registry and sequencing
of Standard Biological Parts and OpenWetWare.
At the end of the decade, the market had a few 2. Faster designing of genomic sequences leading
key challenges: reliability, standardisation, and to a significant increase in the number of synthetic
automation of the design. This period also saw genomes.
several companies emerge with the United States
taking the lead. The first-generation of synthetic Investor sentiments
biology companies from the early 2000s such
as Evolva and Amyris were full stack companies The undeniable potential of synthetic biology to
focusing on a singular product line such as biofuels. impact multiple markets driven by the decrease in
costs of DNA sequencing and synthesis has stirred the
private funding ecosystem into action. From a meagre
$100 million in 2010, investments topped $18 billion
in 2021. This figure is quite bullish considering there
are still few commercial products in the market as of
now. Investor sentiments have evolved over the years
with investments increasing more than 10x since 2010,
coinciding with the critical technological milestones
achieved between 2010 and 2020.

Second generation companies providing ‘synthetic
biology as a service’ such as Gingko Bioworks, Twist
Bioscience and Zymergen, who saw several hundred

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY 39

million dollars in private investments, have gone
public. The exit valuations (for early investors) for
these companies were more than 100 times their
annual revenues. The investments into healthcare
and food companies using synthetic biology have
exploded since 2020. A total of $7.4 billion were
invested in healthcare and $3.4 billion in food
companies in 2021 alone, numbers equivalent to the
total investments in these fields over the years.

Fig: Synthetic Biology VC Investments The market for synthetic biology is at a
tipping point as we enter the third decade
In India, the field of synthetic biology is at a very of the industry. Based on the pipeline
nascent stage. There are several research institutes, of products under development across
including the IISERs, IITs, BITS, IIScs, MITADT, the world, a McKinsey report estimates
working on synthetic biology techniques and an economic impact of more than $4
products. The first Clustered Regularly Interspaced trillion a year over the next two decades.
Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) based product Technological breakthroughs over the last
from India was commercialised in 2020. The decade coupled with the design-build-
technique is used for targeted gene editing. Known test-learn methodology has made cell line
as ‘FELUDA’, the COVID-19 detection product was engineering much faster and easier. The next
developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial decade will be targeted towards developing
Research’s Institute of Genomics and Integrative a standardised set of bio-design tools to be
Biology (CSIR-IGIB) along with the TATA Group. used across the supply chain. Opportunities
exist in designing robust AI/ML based tools
Apart from larger conglomerates such as Reliance and automation for even faster gene design
Industries, who are looking at synthetic biology to and synthesis.
improve their existing product line and develop
more environmentally friendly ones, much of the test-learn methodology has made cell line engineering
investments in the field has been in the form of grants much faster and easier. The next decade will be
from government organisations such as BIRAC. targeted towards developing a standardised set of
Private funding from VCs has remained low. Open- bio-design tools to be used across the supply chain.
access collaboration and access to resources has also Opportunities exist in designing robust AI/ML based
remained a huge hurdle. This has limited the growth tools and automation for even faster gene design and
of the market. synthesis. While a few products were launched in
the market during the fag end of the last decade, it
The future opportunities and challenges was just a drop in the ocean. Moving products from
the lab to the market is challenging and there are a
The market for synthetic biology is at a tipping few other pieces of the puzzle that need attention:
point as we enter the third decade of the industry. a robust supply chain, efficient technology transfer
Based on the pipeline of products under development and improving the market regulations. As we enter
across the world, a McKinsey report estimates an the third decade of synthetic biology, the world has
economic impact of more than $4 trillion a year over a chance to rethink its future. Synthetic biology can
the next two decades. Technological breakthroughs drive the world towards a more equitable, sustainable
over the last decade coupled with the design-build- and inclusive future by replacing the dependence on
chemicals and fossil fuel based products.

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42 ACADEMIA NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

AstraZeneca launches Chronic
Kidney Disease Academy

AstraZeneca India has launched diagnosis, complications and management of CKD and lastly
Chronic Kidney Disease Academy, management of CKD. Through on newer therapies for better
in collaboration with the Indian this programme, AstraZeneca CKD management with a focus
Society of Nephrology (ISN). The and the Indian Society of on SGLT2i inhibitors. These
academy will offer module-based Nephrology aim to help clinicians modules will be delivered by
learning for clinicians to enable and healthcare practitioners to 30 eminent nephrologists from
them to provide better kidney provide holistic kidney care to across the country, who will serve
care to their patients. The training their patients. The certificate as faculty for the programme. The
programme aims to cover the training course on CKD’s latest faculty shall be available both
pathophysiology, presentation, updates will train about 1000 online and offline for mentoring
primary care physicians through young nephrologists and aiding
three interactive modules. The scientific support. The modules
modules would chronologically will be one hour each and will be
focus on the burden and risk delivered by the faculty members
factors of CKD, followed by in three to four-month duration
the holistic guidelines for the over virtual mode.

Parul University joins IIT Madras collaborates
with National Institute of
hands with Wolters Siddha

Kluwer to deploy CDSS Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras)
is partnering with the National Institute of Siddha
Gujarat-based Parul Institute of Medical (NIS), a Centre of Excellence for Research and Higher
Sciences & Research, a constituent college of Education in the Siddha system of Medicine in
Parul University and recognised by National Chennai, on training, research and clinical studies. The
Medical Commission, has announced its partnership is expected to result in the development of
association with Wolters Kluwer. As a part new collaborative teaching programmes and research
of this collaboration, Wolters Kluwer has
deployed its Clinical Decision Support Systems in the areas of clinical
(CDSS), at its institute to further enhance the research, molecular
quality of their evidence-based care delivery. biology and in-vitro
The three products that have been deployed cell line studies and
by the institute are UpToDate, UpToDate health system research
Advanced and Lexicomp. To make quality care besides in exchange
more accessible and enhance the knowledge of faculty members.
of using technology in healthcare to improve A Memorandum of
patient outcomes, Parul University has chosen Understanding (MoU)
UpToDate and Lexicomp as a partner of choice towards this effect was
for its institute. Wolters Kluwer will conduct signed recently by Prof. V Kamakoti, Director, IIT
regular workshops to equip the students and Madras, and Dr R Meenakumari, Director, NIS, in
faculties on the effective use of these products the presence of Prof. Ravindra Gettu, IIT Madras.
for better patient care. The CDSS provides The institutes will also jointly organise seminars,
clinicians with verified information within a workshops, webinars, conferences and continuing
few clicks, facilitating faster diagnosis. With education programmes including continuing medical
CDSS, doctors can bookmark topics for easy education and develop academic programmes. They
access to information when they need it. It will also promote the exchange of students, PhD,
improves patient outcomes and results in better Postdoctoral scholars and faculty for teaching/training
quality healthcare. A CDSS alerts the doctors to programmes.
potential problems that can be easily resolved.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com PARTNER CONTENT 43

EVENT 10th Merck Bioforum India 2022 is happening on
ANNOUNCEMENT 6th SEPT IN PUNE AND

RELEASE 8th SEPT IN HYDERABAD

The move towards next generation
bioprocessing is real and is happening now

10th Merck Bioforum India 2022 is a thought Join us for 10th Merck Bioforum India
leadership program which is a part of the flagship 2022: Next Generation Bioprocessing for Process
Asia seminar series that Merck Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. Intensification where we will deep drive with industry
has been organizing annually. This year’s Bioforum experts. This Bioforum will provide the latest insights
India is being hosted in two different cities in India on delivering increased speed, greater flexibility and
(on 6th September 2022 in Pune and 8th September enhanced quality while reducing the cost and risks of
2022 in Ahmedabad) focusing on Next Generation navigating the evolving biopharma landscape
Bioprocessing for Process Intensification. This is an
annual knowledge-sharing platform to build a network We will have renowned industry experts like Dr.
of end-users and discuss the evolving future trends of Rustom Mody, Senior Vice President & Head R&D
biologics manufacturing processes and technologies, Biologics division, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
challenges, and process intensification. Ltd., Dr. Praveen Gupta, Senior General Manager,
Research & Development, Intas Pharmaceutical Ltd.,
The move towards next-generation bioprocessing Dr. Ashish Sahai, Additional Director, Production
from process intensification to fully continuous (viral vaccines), Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd., Dr.
processing is real and is happening now and we Ratnesh Jain, Associate Professor, Department of
are all in it together. While the benefits of next- Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, ICT Mumbai
generation bioprocessing are clear, there are multiple along with Merck experts like Dr. Subhasis Banerjee,
pathways to success and many options across a Principal Application Expert, APAC Bioprocessing,
range of disciplines must be considered. For some Merck KGaA, Dr. Simone Biel, Senior Regulatory
applications and biomanufacturers, the focus will Consultant, Merck KGaA etc.
be on improving unit operation’s interoperability,
for others the goal will be connected or fully Take this valuable opportunity to join us and
continuous processing. Together with our customers register for this seminar to discuss more on evolving
and regulators, we strive to accelerate access to future trends of biologics manufacturing processes
biopharmaceuticals for patients worldwide. and technologies, challenges, and process
intensification.

REGISTER NOW!

PUNE:
http://ms.spr.ly/6045juZbl

AHMEDABAD:
http://ms.spr.ly/6046juZbm

44 PAECOAPDLEEMNIECWSSNEWS BIOSBPIOECSTPRECUTMRUM| S|EPTAEUMGBUESRT 20221 | www.biospectrumindia.com

CSIR appoints Merck Specialities
first woman appoints Pratima Reddy as
director general Managing Director- India

Council of Scientific and Industrial Merck has appointed Pratima Reddy as the Managing Director
Research (CSIR) has appointed Dr (MD) for Merck Specialities, the healthcare business of Merck,
Nallathamby Kalaiselvi as the first Darmstadt in India. Pratima will lead India’s healthcare
woman director general (DG). She strategy and operations, effective August 1, 2022, as successor
succeeds Dr Shekhar Mande, who to Anandram Narasimhan, transitioning into a regional role
retired from the post in April 2022. Dr at APAC. Before taking over as the Managing Director of
Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department India Operations, Pratima was the Regional Franchise Leader
of Biotechnology, was given the (RFL) of the Cardiovascular, Metabolism and Endocrinology
additional charge after Dr Mande’s (CM&E) franchise in APAC. An active member of the APAC
exit. Dr Nallathamby is currently leadership team, her efforts have ensured that the CM&E
serving as the Director, CSIR-Central
Electrochemical Research Institute franchise continues to grow in the region and
(CSIR-CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil continues its market leadership despite
Nadu. Her research work of more market challenges. Pratima has an extensive
than 25 years is primarily focused on experience of over 17 years, with nine years
electrochemical power systems and in in the pharmaceutical industry, including
particular, development of electrode varied roles across functions in national
materials, custom designed synthesis and global teams since joining Merck in
methods, optimisation of reaction October 2013. In addition, she headed the
parameters and electrochemical oncology unit in the country, where she
evaluation of in-house prepared led the turnaround of the oncology
electrode materials for their suitability business by demonstrating the
in energy storage device assembly. opportunity to drive strong growth
Her research interests include via focussed access strategies.
lithium and beyond lithium batteries,
supercapacitors and waste-to-wealth Aman Mehta steps in as Director
driven electrodes and electrolytes for on Board of Torrent Pharma
energy storage and electrocatalytic
applications. Dr Nallathamby has Aman Mehta has been appointed as Director on the Board of
more than 125 research papers Torrent Pharma from August 1, 2022. During his tenure with
and 6 patents to her credit. She is a Torrent, he has worked in both Power and Pharma Sectors. At
recipient of many prestigious awards Torrent Power, Mehta was involved at a challenging point in
including Materials Research Society the business journey and was instrumental in bringing about
of India (MRSI) medal, CSIR Raman a customer orientation transformation within the distribution
Research Fellowship, Indian National business and also made noteworthy contributions in enhancing
Science Academy- National Research efficiency in operations. He has been Executive
Foundation (INSA-NRF) Exchange Director at Torrent Pharma and heads the India
award, Brain Pool Fellowship of Business along with Corporate HR. His marketing
Korea and the Most Inspiring Women acumen coupled with analytical skills have
Scientist award. strengthened Torrent’s India business performance
and profitability in a highly competitive market.
Mehta’s key achievement has been the successful
integration of the Unichem acquisition, which has
created significant value for the company. Further,
he has led several organic growth initiatives that
have started delivering market share gains,
with a focus on new product launches.
Mehta is a key contributor in evaluation
of acquisition opportunities and driving
the strategic direction of India business.

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com PARTNER CONTENT 45

Address world’s health challenges with
a B.Tech. in Food Technology from UPES

Technological advances in food have clearly
changed what goes on our plate and how. With
growing scope and advances in the field, private and
public organisations are increasingly hiring food
tech professionals. A B.Tech. in Food Technology
from UPES School of Health Sciences and
Technology lays a solid foundation in all areas of
the subject and offers specialisations such as Food
Biotechnology and Food Plant Engineering

I EKTA KASHYAP

During their long expeditions, explorers such as well as the world economy. Special foods and
as James Cook and Christopher Columbus personalised diets are developed for health conditions,
carried foods preserved in syrup and brine (a weight gain, or weight loss. Sports foods like protein
highly concentrated salt-water solution) to increase powder and energy drinks are now easily accessible in
the shelf life. In 1810, French confectioner Nicholas market.
Appert developed the canning process – an airtight
food preservation method that is used practically With growing scope and advances in the field, private
everywhere today. In 1863, Louis Pasteur developed and public organisations are increasingly hiring food tech
the Pasteurization process, which helps improve the professionals. Food Safety and Standards Authority of
shelf life of food products. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut India (FSSAI 2011) enforces food processing industries/
Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human to eat in space, restaurants/hotels to follow all FSSAI regulations for
squeezing beef paste from an aluminium tube into his maintaining hygiene, cleanliness, safe food production,
mouth. Day by day, novel techniques are continuously and supply. As a profession, food technology is not only
being employed in Food Processing for minimal lucrative but also a fulfilling career that promises security,
nutritional and sensory losses. a diverse environment, good earning possibilities, and
recognition.
What began as an attempt to conserve food has
gradually transformed into a comprehensive field known Why UPES School of
as food technology. Today, along with preservation, Health Sciences and Technology
it involves the production, quality control, as well as
research and development of food products. Processing A B.Tech. in Food Technology from UPES School of
of food prevents food wastage, improves economical Health Sciences and Technology lays a solid foundation in
gain, and generates employment. The processed food all areas of the subject and offers specialisations such as
with higher shelf life can be supplied to longer distances, Food Biotechnology and Food Plant Engineering. Besides
leading to a surge in food markets. classroom teaching, students are given clinical and
community exposure so that they become active change-
In a world that faces the challenge of feeding 9.7 makers and solution providers for the healthcare sector.
billion people by 2050 – a sharp rise from the current
global population of 7.9 billion – governments are looking Recently, UPES School of Health Sciences and
at ground-breaking innovations in food technology to Technology joined forces with Taipei Medical University,
solve the issue of food security. Food technology is also Taiwan, AIIMS Rishikesh, and Drishti Eye Institute to
getting attention due to increased consumer awareness provide opportunities for students, research scholars,
about what goes on their plate, where it comes from, as and faculty for academic collaboration and joint research
well as changing food preferences that seek alternatives projects.
to conventional food items. Environmental concerns are
also augmenting the need for a better understanding of The industry-aligned curriculum taught by faculty who
the subject. are specialists in their respective fields along with active
collaborations with industry leaders enables students to
Along with satisfying satiety, supplying adequate develop professional competencies required to address
nutrients and nutraceuticals in food is extremely the world’s health challenges.
important. More than two billion people have a
micronutrient deficiency, which affects personal health For program details, please refer to https://www.
upes.ac.in/schools/school-of-health-sciences

46 SUPPLIERS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Agilent broadens HiMedia receives CE-IVD
approval for Hi-PCR
offerings for GPC/ COVID-FLU Multiplex
Probe PCR Kit (MBPCR262)
SEC polymer
HiGenoMB Molecular Biology Division of Mumbai-based
analysis with new HiMedia Laboratories adds another feather in the cap with
their newly CE/IVD approved Hi-PCR COVID-FLU Multiplex
acquisition Probe PCR Kit (MBPCR262). Molecular Diagnostics based on
real-time PCR is increasingly becoming the gold standard post
Agilent Technologies Inc. has acquired COVID-19. Hi-PCR COVID-FLU Multiplex Probe PCR Kit is
Polymer Standards Service GmbH (PSS), a multiplex PCR kit that can differentiate between COVID-19
a provider of solutions in the field of and Flu using a single tube reaction. It is recommended for
polymer characterization. PSS specialises sensitive and specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza
in hardware and software solutions used virus in clinical samples. Targets include RdRp gene of SARS-
in defining the makeup and creation CoV-2 virus, Influenza A virus (Swine flu 2009 H1N1 virus,
of molecular structures. The company seasonal H3N2 & seasonal H1N1), Influenza B virus and
provides complete solutions for gel Internal control (IC). As the public’s concern of contracting
permeation chromatography (GPC) and COVID-19 continued to rise, flu symptoms were frequently
size exclusion chromatography (SEC) mistaken for those of COVID-19. Performing separate tests for
used in applications to determine the detection of COVID-19 and Influenza can be time consuming,
molecular weight and size distribution of costly and a cumbersome affair. HiMedia’s MBPCR262 being
macromolecules. The acquisition broadens a multiplex kit eliminates the need for separate tests thereby
and extends Agilent’s product portfolio significantly reducing the time and resources.
and customer offerings, particularly in the
chemical and biopharmaceutical industries
for the analysis of natural and synthetic
polymers such as nucleic acids, proteins,
monoclonal antibodies, polysaccharides,
and synthetic plastic. By acquiring PSS,
Agilent will also add a key software
component to complement its line-up of
GPC/SEC products.

Thermo Fisher introduces assays for
MRD detection in myeloid malignancies

Thermo Fisher Scientific has characterised by rapid disease This is driving a growing need
launched a next-generation progression and can be fatal if not for an MRD detection method
sequencing (NGS)-based assay for treated promptly. Depending on that can simultaneously track
research in myeloid measurable their interventions, the number mutations across multiple genes
residual disease (MRD). As the of AML patients who experience with high sensitivity. Current
first NGS-based tests to support MRD detection methods do not
both DNA and RNA relapsed disease can be as evaluate individual mutations
input, the Ion Torrent high as 78 per cent. or can only track a very limited
Oncomine Myeloid Detecting remaining number at once. Thermo Fisher’s
MRD Assays provide mutations after Myeloid MRD Assay has been
a comprehensive treatment can designed to enable simultaneous
and highly sensitive help identify testing and identification of more
MRD assessment the presence of than 90 per cent of common AML
from blood and bone residual disease mutations and fusions, providing
marrow samples. and guide insights to guide the future of
Acute myeloid patient prognosis clinical applications, standards
leukaemia (AML) is and further and drug development.

treatment decisions.

The 25th edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit - Asia’s largest IT, Deep Tech & Biotech event is
organized by the Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and Science and Technology, Govt. of Karnataka
is scheduled from 16th to 18th November 2022, with the theme, ‘Tech4NexGen’. The event
will be an in-person event at Bangalore Palace, Bengaluru.

Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi ji is intended to inaugurate the Summit along with heads of the Global Leaders.

The event will be attended by global technology leaders, India grown IT heads, Biotech, Deep tech and start-ups. BTS 2022

will provide the platform to access the best innovations, new products and cutting-edge ideas for building a collaborative,

global tech community. The theme for IndiaBio@Bengaluru Tech Summit is Leading the New Normal

BIOTECHNOLOGY BioPharma | BioAgri | BioIT | BioIndustrial | BioServices

CONFERENCE FOCUS 

EVENT SPECTRUM

• Multi-Track Conference • Global Innovation Alliance • Smart Bio Awards • Bio Posters

• International Exhibition • India Innovation Alliance • Unicorns Conclave • Bio Partnering

• India USA - Tech Conclave • R&D - Lab to Market • Biotech Quiz • B2B Meetings

HIGHLIGHTS OF BTS2022

50+ 100+ 350+ 10000+

COUNTRIES SESSIONS SPEAKERS BUSINESS ATTENDEES

400+ 2000+ 2500+ 50000+

EXHIBITORS START-UPS ORGANISATIONS VISITORS

Connect us at: [email protected] @blrtechsummit
www.indiabio.in | www.bengalurutechsummit.com

48 PARTNERS CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Demystifying point
of care diagnostics

« of care testing or diagnostics should be strictly
followed and used as per the recommendation
Ranjith.K, given by the healthcare professionals only. POC
Vice President, only benefits the patient in saving time by avoiding
POC Division, long waiting queues, repeated visits and managing
Agappe Diagnostics the diagnostics with ease and stress-free under the
guidance of their healthcare professionals.
Point of care Diagnostics or POC, as a concept,
evolved in healthcare for augmenting the patient- Convenience and TAT
centric approach with near-patient testing or bedside The challenge in India is the historical pattern
testing. In the current scenario POC devices deliver in which testing was wholly or mostly confined to
high-quality results in a shorter time, this can the Medical Laboratory which entailed sending off
provide clinicians with answers that can quickly samples away from the patient and then waiting for
help determine the course of action or treatment for hours or days to get back the results, during which
a patient, which is lifesaving and saving precious patient care must continue blindly without the desired
time. Let’s explore how POC testing helps patients information. In Tier II, Tier III cities, and even in Urban
to avoid long waiting time, supports healthcare metro towns faster diagnostics is a real challenge.
professionals for faster diagnostics and treatment, Turnaround time (TAT) is always referred to as the
and improves the high-end specialised testing needs throughput of the diagnostics instrument, how many
of the reference and larger laboratories. tests can be done in an hour or how much time the
instrument works without any intervention, or how
fast the laboratory gives the report. For the Intensive

In Asia, India is one of the fastest-growing countries
in healthcare and particularly in POC Diagnostics
or POC Testing. Japan is leading the pack in POC
revenue from Asia and followed by China, mostly
driven by the volume. Interestingly, India is growing at
a CAGR of more than 15 per cent in both volume and
revenue in POC testing.

Post COVID-19
Awareness in point of care testing has increased
many folds among the public. This awareness is
both good and bad, good is the awareness about
what needs to be monitored or tested and consult
their physicians or clinicians on how to go about
it? And the worst part is that without having proper
awareness (Particularly not knowing the authenticity
of the messages circulated on social media- chatting
sites) taking self-testing and treatment is more
harmful to themselves and to their dears. Point

BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com PARTNERS CONTENT 49

care units or Emergency departments, TAT is to value proposition for POC testing with the above-
be the Bed Turnaround time, how fast the patient mentioned operational benefits, POC testing is highly
navigates to the right department, or how fast the economical and affordable to all classes of hospitals
patient recovers and moves to the general ward and and clinics in India. With COVID-19, we all know the
keeps the bed available for the next needy patient. To importance of time, “TIME IS PRECIOUS” POCT is
make faster decisions, you really need POC Testing the tool that supports healthcare professionals for
at the near-patient or bedside. POC Testing adds FASTER DIAGNOSTICS, focusing on patient care
huge value to the hospitals by providing convenient and saving TIME. It’s important to embrace new
and comfortable care to the patients, as this testing and developing technology in POC Diagnostics and
gives directions to the physicians for immediate Testing, now POC devices are manufactured with
therapy. Then clinicians get time to investigate further high-quality standards and deliver the desired results
and prescribe specialised investigations to their to the clinicians.
larger laboratories or to the reference laboratories
leisurely. For the small labs and clinics, POC will add Agappe is one of the strong IVD manufacturers
huge value to their patients on faster Turnaround in India, focused on Clinical chemistry, Haematology,
time in patient care and in all possible ways to have Immuno-Chemistry, Chemiluminescence
confidence and smile from the patient. Immunology, Molecular Diagnostics, and Pre-
Analytics. Now Agappe is stepping into POC
Time makes the difference in cost-benefit diagnostics solutions and intends to support
Point of care is a well-established concept healthcare professionals with faster diagnostics.
worldwide and the need for the POC is rapidly
increasing in India. In future, POC Testing will play Agappe’s focus is on launching specialised
a vital role in private and public health care. POC markers along with routine biomarkers in Cardiac,
Diagnostics or Testing has potential operational Renal, Inflammation, Sepsis, and Diabetes. We
benefits like the number of operational bed intend to include a Critical Stat- DRY Chemistry and
requirements, optimal use of professional time, rapid Coagulation solution testing with minimal volume or
decision making, reducing the high dependency on with a drop of blood. We also have a plan to address
skilled full technicians, standard care in a disaster the preanalytical phase in critical care testing and a
situation, and considerable reduction of patient specialised product for Preterm and Low Birth Weight
waiting time. It’s a myth in India that POC testing is Infants. Our final segment is to focus on providing
expensive and premium priced. If you make the right comprehensive and high-quality Home Health POC
solutions (Devices with AI and connectivity) in the
future. Under one umbrella we intend to cover
most of the POC testing needs and provide holistic
solutions to healthcare professionals for faster
diagnostics.

We are aligned with the Prime Ministers’ vision
on Atmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India. In
the Indian context, self-reliance should not mean
divorcing international trade. India will have to
seriously engage with the region and the world,
but at the same time, strengthen its own domestic
industry. Agappe manufactures more indigenously
developed Medical devices and its reagents for IVD,
technology transfer, and JV model products which
are all manufactured fully or partly or assembled in
our facility to offer these products not only for India,
but also to the world to fulfill the dream of Make in
India.

AGAPPE YOUR BEST PARTNER IN
DIAGNOSTICS, we are here with our New Division,
POC DIAGNOSTICS, “SUPPORTING HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONALS FOR FASTER DIAGNOSTICS”.
Follow us https://www.linkedin.com/company/agappe-
diagnostics-ltd/

50 LET’S TALK HEALTH BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2022 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Is Monkeypox
A Viable Threat?

First detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958, in gay or bisexual men. Although monkeypox isn’t
the monkeypox virus is no SARS-CoV-2, the known to be sexually transmitted, sexual activity may
coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 be an important factor. The most likely explanation
pandemic. It does not spread from person to person for this unexpected pattern of transmission might be
as readily, and because it is related to the smallpox that the virus has been coincidentally introduced into
virus, certain existing drugs and vaccines could help the community of men who have sex with men, and
to curb its spread. Hence, although scientists are has continued circulating there.
concerned, as any new viral behaviour is worrying,
they are not sounding an alarm, not yet, anyway. Scientists will have a better idea of the origin of
the outbreaks and the risk factors for infection once
But we cannot simply ignore the fact that a global epidemiological investigation - which can
currently there are more cases in countries or take months and involves rigorous contact tracing - is
locations that have not historically reported complete.
monkeypox as compared to others. For instance,
the virus was first detected in humans in 1970 in the On the other hand, available data reveals that
Democratic Republic of Congo. Sporadic outbreaks although currently there are no licensed treatments
of infection have been reported in Africa, typically for human monkeypox, there are two orally
originating from contact with wildlife reservoirs, bioavailable drugs, brincidofovir and tecovirimat,
particularly rodents. Such outbreaks and travel- approved in the US for the treatment of smallpox in
associated cases outside Africa have had limited preparation for a potential bioterror event. While
secondary spread, and therefore human-to-human neither drug has been studied in human efficacy
transmission has been deemed unviable. trials, both have demonstrated efficacy against other
orthopoxviruses including monkeypox in animal
Despite the fact that monkeypox virus has models.
circulated for decades in regions where it has
traditionally been endemic, research into monkeypox Additionally, US has suggested use of two vaccines
has been neglected. And now this sudden global for the prevention of monkeypox virus infection:
outbreak has stirred the scientific community to take JYNNEOS (also known as Imvamune or Imvanex),
some action. and ACAM2000, approved for use against smallpox
and made available for use against monkeypox
The recent data from scientists, worldwide, under an Expanded Access Investigational New Drug
has revealed that the circulating monkeypox virus application.
might be undergoing adaptation for the human host.
Thus, we must keep its genetic changes under tight Ring vaccination is another solution being
surveillance to be prepared for the epidemiological suggested by the scientists and health experts who
changes. consider monkeypox to be a case of rare infection.
This strategy vaccinates the contacts of confirmed
This surveillance, however, will require a ‘infected’ patients, and will be the first-line strategy
conceptual shift from observing lone single nucleotide in an emergency. It also vaccinates people who are in
polymorphisms, as with SARS-CoV-2 variants, toward close contact with those contacts. This way, everyone
watching closely for the integrity and stability of the who has been, or could have been exposed to a
monkeypox virus genome. Therefore, the constant patient with the virus, receives the vaccine.
sequencing of the full monkeypox virus genome
is very critical to detect not only single nucleotide Nonetheless, scientists, globally, have started
polymorphisms but any other mutations or reversions working toward developing new vaccines to control
that might indicate initial signals of gene loss. this new threat, just in case.

Another observation that is being raised by the Dr Manbeena Chawla
scientific community is the frequency of this infection Executive Editor

[email protected]