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4 BIO CONTENT BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

COVER
DESIGN BY:
DOMINIX STRATEGIC
DESIGN PVT. LTD.

COVERSTORY 23.........................................................................................................................................................

DIGITIZATION IMPROVES LAB
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Time is a major obstacle for the invention of a new product or 29
for the development of a novel product from basic concepts. The
Improving
time taken for an idea to be proved, prototyped and developed
into beneficial invention determines the success of the product as laboratory
there are multiple competitors existing in the market. As a result,
management
scientists have to manage their time efficiently while executing
their projects. However, unfortunately a lot of time is wasted when Shabir Ahmad,

the required lab supplies such as reagents, kits, consumables, Account Manager -
equipment etc. are not available while conducting crucial research Turkey, Middle East,

experiments. Scientists often struggle in contacting the right Africa, South Asia,
biosuppliers, establishing trust with a new brand of product or iLab Operations
Management
facing delays in the delivery of an urgent material.
Software, Agilent
Technologies UK

ANALYSIS SPECIAL

21 30

India Rs 15K crore Indian
announces Analytical Instruments
major tax market growing at 4%
cuts to
boost
investment

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com TOPVIDEO BIO CONTENT 5

SPEAKING WITH A Vaidheesh,
32 President, OPPI
shares his views
“We have developed on the scenario
over 15000 NCEs this year” of healthcare
Swapan Bhattacharya, financing in India

Managing Director,
TCG Lifesciences Pvt. Limited, Kolkata

34 Scan the QR Code »

“PPPs, CoEs are needed to Dr Taslimarif
practice precision diabetes care” Saiyed, CEO &
Omar Sherief Mohammad, Director, C-CAMP
gives an overview
General Manager, of the National Bio
Roche Diabetes Care India, Mumbai Entrepreneurship
Competition
36
Scan the QR Code »
“There is urgent need to
put in place rational pricing Prof Balram
mechanism for treatments Bhargava,
under PMJAY” Director General,
Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, Indian Council of
Medical Research
President, NATHEALTH talks about the
(Healthcare Federation of India), New Delhi developments in
the Indian medical
REGULARS device industry

BioEdit ........................................................................06 Scan the QR Code »
BioMail .......................................................................08
Policy and Regulatory News.....................................10
Company News..........................................................14
Finance News.............................................................17
Start-up News............................................................18
WHO News.................................................................20
Science News............................................................38
Academic News.........................................................40
Supplier News............................................................42
People News..............................................................46

6 BIO EDIT BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Increased Scrutiny
on Indian Pharma

After Valsartan, now it is Ranitidine. The has been issued warning letter for deficiencies at
concern is same in both the cases – presence its Indrad plant in Gujarat following the plant’s
of probable cancer-causing ingredient. inspection. Seven adverse observations have been
The culprit appears to be nitrosamine impurity issued in case of Aurobindo Pharma’s Telengana
called N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), which plants for not keeping complete data records and
is classified as a probable human carcinogen, a providing potentially misleading documents.
substance that can cause cancer. The US Food and Lupin’s production facility at Mandideep was issued
Drug Administration (FDA) recently red flagged that a warning letter the previous month. Recently its
NDMA was found in both the medicines which are Tarapur plant received adverse remarks for not
consumed for treating blood pressure and acidity maintaining records of batches of medicines.
respectively.
There appears to be a rise in the US FDA’s
The issue was brought to the US FDA’s notice by activities against Indian companies. Out of 38
an online pharmacy which tests all the drugs it sells. warning letters issued by US FDA till August this
It found extremely high levels of NDMA. Later on, year, 13 were reportedly issued to Indian companies.
FDA conducted its own tests. Initially it reported Poor quality control, API contamination, lack of
existence of very low levels of NDMA. However, cleanliness and maintenance of equipment and lack
afterwards it said that “unacceptable levels” were of proper record maintenance are the reasons for
found. According to one media report one study in the warning letters. An analysis done by Mint shows
the US found 3,000 times higher carcinogen content that the inspections of Indian pharma production
in Ranitidine. facilities have increased in the past two years. Out of
the total foreign inspections by US FDA, one third
It is good that the Indian drug regulator has are conducted in India. Of course, it is also somewhat
initiated actions following US FDA red flagging the connected to the huge quantum of US pharma
concerned medicines. The Central Drugs Standard import from India and the high number of US FDA
Control Organisation (CDSCO) has asked its state registered facilities. US imports drugs worth $6
wings to collect samples of these drugs and to get billion from India which has the highest number of
their manufacturers to test the drugs. While some US FDA registered facilities outside the US.
companies have recalled the drugs, some have sent
their samples to laboratories for testing. Few others Katherine Eban’s recent controversial book
have continued with the sales claiming that the ‘Bottle of lies’ which exposes couple of major Indian
internal tests conducted by them have shown the generic pharma companies, should actually be an eye
presence of NDMA within permissible limits. Still, opener for the Indian pharma companies. Pharma
uncertainty looms over market of more than Rs 1000 industry experts and analysts feel that Eban’s
crore, having nearly 200 generic versions of the description is an old story and the situation is much
drugs. Over 50 companies are manufacturing these better now as quality standards have improved.
drugs. Indian Pharma Alliance had taken special efforts
for quality improvement for its members. All such
As if the red flagging is not enough over the efforts should ultimately lead to lesser and lesser
presence of dangerous ingredient in medicines, the warnings each coming year and should reach to a
US FDA in the last few days has issued warnings level where US FDA inspections are not needed at all.
to a number of pharmaceutical companies namely Because as Henry Ford says “Quality means doing it
Torrent, Glenmark, Aurobindo, Lupin for different right when no one is looking.”
types of shortcomings at their certain plants. In case
of Glenmark, the US FDA has highlighted its inability Milind Kokje
to investigate batch failures at its manufacturing Chief Editor
centre in Himachal Pradesh. Torrent pharma
[email protected]



8 BIO MAIL BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

NMC Bill 2019: A game changer for medical education? - 19

Vol 17; Issue 10; October 2019

Acknowledgements

The coverage on Syngene in the BioServices Special Edition of October 2019
looks great. Very happy.

- Sneha Ashok, Bengaluru

Thank you so much for featuring Clinimed Lifesciences in the BioSpectrum
survey on the BioServices sector in India. Really appreciate it. It was surprising
to find out that we are the only company from the East India in the survey.

- Adreesh Chatterjee, Kolkata

Thank you so much for the coverage on Indian Immunologicals (IIL) in the
October edition. The authored article by Dr Prasanna Deshpande, Deputy
Managing Director, IIL has come out well.

- Shreya Nandy, Hyderabad

The authored articles by Suneela Thatte, VP and Head - R&D Solutions India,
IQVIA and Dr Chirag Trivedi, President, Indian Society for Clinical Research
(ISCR), in the October Edition, look great. Thanks.

- Melissa Arulappan, Bengaluru

Vol 17; Issue 11; November 2019 MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications

Publisher & Managing Editor: South Region New Delhi INTERNATIONAL
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10 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

National Health Authority
inks pact with Google

Maharashtra National Health Authority PM-JAYs digital presence and
unveils medical (NHA) has signed a Statement showcasing relevant content to
delivery drones of Intent (SoI) with Google to the 50 crore entitled beneficiaries.
services collaborate and strengthen the Furthermore, Google will be
implementation of Ayushman helping in providing training
The Government of Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan and support to NHA personnel
Maharashtra and Zipline, Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY). to build on digital skills. The
the world’s first and The two organizations will collaboration will seek to bolster
only national-scale be working closely to explore PM-JAY’s objective of reaching
drone delivery service, various use cases for increasing the poor and vulnerable, reducing
announced a partnership process efficiencies in day-to- their high out-of-pocket health
to use a logistics network of day applications. Google will expenditure, and improving
autonomous delivery drones also support NHA in improving access to quality healthcare.
to help transform emergency
medicine and critical care in Government launches initiative
one of India’s most populous to tackle inherited diseases
and dynamic states. The
launch of this ground- The Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Health
breaking initiative will be & Family Welfare, Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched UMMID (Unique
supported through a grant Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders) initiative
from SII (Serum Institute of and has inaugurated NIDAN (National Inherited Diseases Administration)
India), the largest vaccine Kendras, which is being supported by Department of Biotechnology
manufacturer in the world. (DBT) & Science and Technology. Taking into account that congenital
The revolutionary new
service, which is expected to and hereditary genetic diseases
launch operations in early are becoming a significant
2020, is part of Government health burden in India, and
of Maharashtra’s bold vision realizing the need for adequate
of using drone delivery and effective genetic testing
to establish universal, and counselling services,
seven-days-a-week access DBT has started the UMMID
to lifesaving and critical Initiative which is designed
medicines for each of its on the concept of ‘Prevention
120 million citizens over the is better than Cure’. In India’s
coming years. Zipline drones urban areas, congenital
will make on-demand and malformations and genetic
emergency deliveries of disorders are the third most
blood products, vaccines common cause of mortality
and life-saving medications. in newborns. As a part of this
The operations in Pune and initiative, in the first phase,
Nandurbar will be financed five NIDAN Kendras have
through a grant from SII. been established to provide
comprehensive clinical care.
DBT is planning to expand
the programme and establish
more NIDAN Kendras in other
parts of the country, train more clinicians in clinical genetics and cover
more aspirational districts for screening of pregnant women and new born
babies for inherited genetic diseases to provide comprehensive clinical
care, in the next phase under this UMMID initiative.

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12 POLICY AND REGULATORY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Health Ministry Karnataka to set
collaborates with WHO up Innovation
to re-design NHSRC Authority

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with As stated by B. S. Yediyurappa,
World Health Organization (WHO) has formally announced Chief Minister, Government
the re-designation of National Health Systems Resource Centre of Karnataka, the state is on a
(NHSRC), as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Priority Medical mission to promote faster and
Devices and Health Technology Policy. The mandate of the inclusive growth. As a result,
Division of Healthcare Technology at NHSRC is to draw up a revised IT policy is expected
technical specifications for technologies procured under National to be announced soon. The
Health Mission, draft policies for medical device maintenance policy will focus on attracting
and management, undertake evaluations of health product investments and generating
innovations, conduct Health Technology Assessments (HTA), employment in Tier-2 and Tier-3
and support the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on issues cities. In addition, Karnataka
related to diagnostics initiative, National Dialysis Program and Innovation Authority is to be set
other technology intensive services. In collaboration with WHO’s up to support latest technologies.
country’s office, NHSRC has developed a guidance document for Karnataka Innovation Authority
the Ministry’s free diagnostics initiative to further strengthen the will be set up under the
agenda of Universal access to affordable diagnostics. NHSRC also chairmanship of Yediyurappa
works with WHO on development of technical specification of along with Dr C N Ashwath
Blood pressure measuring devices, In vitro diagnostics and devices Narayan as the co-chairman.
for cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Future collaboration The government also plans to
includes work on International Classification and Nomenclature constitute a Vision Group for
for Medical Devices, which would improve access to affordable Startups, to provide insights
health technologies. on strengthening the startup
ecosystem, while involving key
stakeholders from industry
and academia. He has also
urged the industry to invest in
cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru,
Hubbali-Dharwad, Shivamogga
and Belagavi, where vibrant
ecosystems already exist.

NHA revises health benefit packages of Ayushman Bharat

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri per cent of the treatments were addition of 237 new packages,
Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), and adoption of 43 stratified
India’s flagship healthcare provided in private hospitals, and packages; and there is no change
scheme provides a to the rate of 469 packages. NHA
cover of Rs 5 lakh 60 per cent were for tertiary has also mentioned that without
per family per year compromising the range of
to around 50 crore care. National Health treatment covered under PM-JAY,
poor and vulnerable 554 packages will be discontinued,
individuals. Within Authority (NHA), the and there is a reduction in the
one year of the rate of 57 packages. Overall, a
scheme, 46.5 lakh nodal agency for conscious attempt has been made
hospital treatments were to keep the price of abuse prone
provided, amounting to implementation of packages at the minimum level to
claims worth Rs 7,490 crore. 53 minimize incentives for abuse.
PM-JAY has stated

that the Health

Benefit Packages

(HBP) of the scheme

have been revised.

There has been an increase

in the rate of 270 packages,

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPONSORED CONTENT 13

Mayo Clinic again ranked
No.1 hospital in the U.S.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Mayo Clinic ranked No. 2 in six continuously evolves and improves.
Minnesota, was again named the specialties — Cardiology and Heart Mayo Clinic’s physicians are salaried
best hospital in the United States in Surgery; Geriatrics; Gynecology; to eliminate any financial pressure
U.S. News & World Report’s 2019- Neurology and Neurosurgery; from patient care decisions. Mayo
2020 ‘Best Hospitals.’ Mayo Clinic Orthopedics; and Pulmonology and Clinic’s experts work across
also ranked No. 1 in more medical Lung Surgery. It ranked No. 3 in specialties to provide comprehensive
specialty areas than any other in Cancer. and coordinated care for patients.
U.S. medical center.
Specialties are measured based "The consistency of being top
Mayo Clinic has always ranked at on factors such as patient survival, ranked nationwide more often than
or near the top of the annual "Best patient experience, nurse staffing any other hospital is truly a reflection
Hospitals Honor Roll." Mayo Clinic and Magnet recognition, patient of the thousands of staff who share
in Arizona and Minnesota was also services, technology and expert the same vision of providing the
ranked No. 1 within those states, opinion. Mayo Clinic staff work to best care for our patients," says
and Mayo Clinic Florida was ranked deliver the highest standards of care Dr. Farrugia. Mayo Clinic is an
No. 1 in Jacksonville, Florida. and transform scientific discoveries international medical destination for
into clinical advances that help those seeking answers to serious
Mayo Clinic is part of a select people everywhere. or complex conditions. More than
group of hospitals recognized on 1.2 million people from all 50 states
the “Best Hospitals Honor Roll” “Being recognized as the No. 1 and more than 130 countries come
according to U.S. News & World health care provider in the nation is to Mayo Clinic each year for expert,
Report. The honor roll consists of a tribute to the incredible work of compassionate care.
20 hospitals with the highest overall our staff because it recognizes both
scores in 16 medical and surgical our medical expertise as well as “Our primary value is that the
specialties, and nine common our commitment to compassionate, needs of the patient come first. We
procedures and conditions. individualized care” said Gianrico take that value and we embed it in
Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO, everything we do,” Dr. Farrugia said.
Mayo Clinic ranks first, second or Mayo Clinic. “Each day, we strive
third in 12 specialties, including No. to bring hope and healing to our  For more information or to make an
1 rankings in five specialties: patients." appointment, visit www.mayoclinic.
org/international
 Diabetes and Endocrinology Mayo Clinic’s commitment to
 Ear, Nose and Throat quality dates back more than 150
 Gastroenterology and years to when the Mayo brothers
invented the team-based approach
Gastroenterologic Surgery to medicine – an approach that
 Nephrology
 Urology

14 COMPANY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Transasia Serum Institute inks licensing
receives ZED agreement with Aridis Pharma
Diamond
Quality rating US based Aridis Pharmaceuticals, for future milestone payments for
Inc., a biopharmaceutical achieving product development
Mumbai based Transasia company focused on the and commercial objectives, along
Bio-Medicals has discovery and development of with royalties on net sales. Under
announced that it has novel anti-infective therapies to the terms of the agreement, Serum
received the Diamond treat life-threatening bacterial AMR is granted a license to Aridis’
rating in ZED Quality infections, has announced that clinical stage programs AR-301
Certification from the it has consummated a licensing (ventilator associated pneumonia),
Ministry of MSME, agreement with Serum AMR, an AR-105 (ventilator associated
Government of India and affiliate of Serum International BV pneumonia), and AR-101 (hospital
the Quality Council of (SIBV) and the Serum Institute of acquired pneumonia): these
India for its manufacturing India, Ltd. The agreement grants license rights will be exclusive
facility at Mumbai (Seepz). Serum AMR a license to multiple and to a limited territory, which
The plant was assessed on programs from Aridis for certain includes territories outside of the
30 stringent parameters limited territories and access the U.S., Europe, Canada, UK, China,
including manufacturing Company’s MabIgX platform Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
infrastructure, Lean technology for asset identification
concepts, 5S, Kaizen, daily and selection. As part of the
management practices, agreement, Aridis will receive
manufacturing process the remaining upfront cash
and FMEA, impact of payment of $10 million, which
manufacturing on the is in addition to the $5 million
environment. The entire that was initially received when
assessment process is the companies signed an option
very elaborate and lasted agreement on July 30, 2019.
a year. The ZED Quality Moving forward, Aridis is eligible
Certification is an initiative
by the Government to Glenmark receives
encourage ‘Make in ODD for cancer drug
India’ and export of
Indian products, through Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has announced that the USFDA has granted
manufacturing practices, Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) to its bispecific antibody candidate GBR
aligned towards providing 1342 for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received
products aimed at Zero prior therapies. Derived from the company’s proprietary BEAT (Bispecific
Defect (for customers) Engagement by Antibodies based on the T cell receptor) technology, GBR
and Zero Effect (on the
environment). First 1342 is being investigated for the treatment
announced by Prime of multiple myeloma. The candidate is one
Minister Narendra Modi of five clinical-stage assets in the pipeline of
in 2014, the initiative is Glenmark’s new innovation company. GBR
meant to raise quality 1342 is designed to bind to both CD3 on T cells
levels in the MSME and CD38, an antigen known to be implicated
sector and is seen as the in hematological malignancies, on target
cornerstone of the Make cells. This activates T cells and redirects them
in India programme. toward CD38+ tumor cells found in multiple
So far, 266 companies myeloma. Once directed at the right target, the
have been awarded in 23 T cells help destroy the tumor cells. A first-in-human, open-label, Phase
manufacturing sectors. 1 trial of GBR 1342 in multiple myeloma, is ongoing to assess the safety
and tolerability of increasing doses of GBR 1342, and will also evaluate
biomarkers, immunogenicity, and additional measures of disease activity.

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16 COMPANY NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

AstraZeneca receives DCGI approval for type 2 diabetes drug

AstraZeneca India has announced of action in a once-daily tablet. The
that it has received Import & Market drug comprises sodium-glucose
permission for QTERN (Fixed dose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor-
combination of Dapagliflozin 10mg dapagliflozin and a dipeptidyl
+ Saxagliptin 5mg) in India by the peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor
Drug Controller General of India saxagliptin. SGLT-2 inhibitors help
(DCGI). This permission paves way patients achieve improved glycaemic
for the launch of QTERN in India, control by reducing the reabsorption
subject to the receipt of further related of glucose from the blood and
statutory approvals and licenses. enabling its removal via the urine.
QTERN is indicated as an adjunct to SGLT-2 inhibitors, including Forxiga
diet and exercise to improve glycaemic (dapagliflozin), have demonstrated
control in adults with type 2 diabetes reductions in HbA1c and have also
mellitus (T2DM). QTERN combines been shown to reduce weight and blood
two anti-hyperglycaemic agents pressure. DPP-4 inhibitors reduce
with complementary mechanisms blood glucose as measured by HbA1c.

Biocon, Evotec sign Eisai Pharma, Mylan
licensing deal for collaborate to promote,
biosimilar asset distribute eribulin

Biocon Limited and Evotec SE have announced Japanese pharma firm Eisai has announced that Eisai’s
that Biocon Biologics, a wholly owned subsidiary subsidiary Eisai Pharmaceuticals India, located in Andhra
of Biocon Ltd, and Just - Evotec Biologics, Pradesh and US headquartered Mylan’s subsidiary Mylan
wholly owned by Evotec, have entered into a India, based in Bengaluru have entered into a license
strategic licensing agreement for an early-stage, agreement to promote and distribute the second brand
pre-clinical biosimilar asset. Biocon Biologics TECERIS for the anticancer agent eribulin mesylate
will take this biosimilar asset through end-to- (eribulin) in India. Under this agreement, eribulin will
be supplied to Mylan India by Eisai India as well as
end development, IND promoted and distributed by Mylan India as TECERIS.
filing, manufacturing and Further availability of eribulin to patients all over India
commercialization post- is expected by supplying eribulin in two brands, two
regulatory approval, under channels: Halaven by Eisai India and TECERIS by Mylan
its own label in global India. Eribulin is a novel anticancer agent discovered in-
markets. Biocon Biologics house by Eisai. In India, Eisai is steadily expanding the
aims to address the needs availability of eribulin to patients since Eisai India has
of a large patient pool launched eribulin as Halaven and introduced a tiered-
through this differentiated pricing model in October 2013. Eribulin’s indication for
therapy. Through this breast cancer in India is the locally advanced or metastatic
in-licensing deal, Biocon breast cancer who have progressed after at least one
Biologics has expanded chemotherapeutic regimen for advanced disease.
its current therapeutic
basket of biosimilars going
beyond diabetes, oncology and immunology.
Just – Evotec Biologics has a unique platform
with deep experience in the fields of protein,
process and manufacturing sciences, which
it has leveraged to develop this complex
molecule. Just – Evotec Biologics has received
an undisclosed license fee from Biocon Biologics
and will be eligible to receive development,
regulatory and commercial milestone payments.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com FINANCE NEWS 17

USV invests Strides Board approves
Rs 400 incremental investments in Stelis
Cr in new
formulation Bengaluru based Strides Pharma Strides has invested $ 35 million for a
plant Science Limited has announced 43 per cent ownership in Stelis. With
that the Board of Directors of the the aforementioned infusion up to
Continuing with its Company has approved an additional $ 40 million by Strides and pending
journey towards global investment up to a maximum of $40 equity commitments from the other
competitiveness, million over a period of 24 months for partners, Stelis would have attained
consolidating on its a controlling stake in Stelis Biopharma a critical size to break even at the
leadership in the Private Limited (Stelis). The proposed operational level which is expected in
diabetes segment and new investments will be a primary the next 18 months.
also leveraging on the infusion into Stelis which will enable
Government’s surprise Stelis to achieve its objective of
corporate tax rate cut, becoming a compelling global player
USV has announced in the biopharmaceutical space and
that it will immediately also accelerate Strides’ re-entry into
proceed with its sterile injectables business post the
investment on a new completion of the Company’s non-
state-of-art formulation compete period in December 2019.
plant at Vadodara. As on date, Stelis has invested over
The construction for $160 million, of which $ 91 million is
the new facility at represented by equity capital infused
Vadodara will start by Strides and its equity partners.
with an initial capital
investment of around Laurus Labs acquires
Rs 4000 million. The subsidiary of Aspen Pharmacare
facility will provide
employment to more Hyderabad based Laurus Labs, a The acquisition is expected to be
than 350 people, leading research and development completed by the end of November
despite being a very driven pharmaceutical company, 2019. At the conclusion of the
highly automated has agreed to acquire 100 transaction, all residual assets and
plant. The company per cent shares of Phekolong liabilities that are within the target
will manufacture Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned company immediately prior to
its leading products subsidiary company of Pharmacare completion will be for Pharmacare
in diabetes and t/a Aspen Pharmacare, South Limited’s account and accordingly
hypertension segments Africa, subject to completion of all such assets and liabilities will be
in this facility. The conditions precedent, by way of transferred from the target company
plant will supply to cash consideration of Seventy-five to Pharmacare Limited immediately
both the domestic thousand South African Rands. prior to completion.
and export markets.
USV has three plants
based at Daman and
Baddi manufacturing
Tablets, Capsules:
Sterile injectables
& Ophthalmic
Products, one API
plant at Chiplun and
biotechnology facility
in Nerul Mumbai.

18 START UPS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Onco.com secures MEngage gets $100K
$7M in Series A funding in extended seed round

Onco.com, India’s only internet aggregator for MEngage Technologies, a health-technology
cancer care, announced completion of $7 million startup that provides a doctor-patient engagement
in series A funding by Accel, Chiratae Venture platform, has raised $100,000 in an extended seed
(earlier known as IDG Ventures) and Dream funding round from a clutch of investors, including
Incubator. Onco.com is an internet aggregator in Bollywood singer Sukhbir Singh. Other investors
healthcare specializing in cancer care. Through that participated in the round include Keshav
its network of world class oncologists, Onco.com Sharma, the chief executive officer of information
provides accurate and personalized scientific technology firm Metacube, and Nikhil Chaudhary
advice to cancer patients at every stage of their and Dipesh Singhal, the founders of Buren. The
Jaipur based firm connects doctors with patients
journey. It through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) app. The
manages their platform stores a patient’s medical history on the
care end-to-end cloud and allows doctors to manage appointments
by connecting in real time, and set automated reminders.
them with
the relevant
treatment
centres, doctors
and labs and
provides
solutions to
their questions and concerns throughout their
treatment journey. Onco.com envisions becoming
a one stop platform for all cancer related needs
for the patients and their family members. The
company aims to expand its customer base and
scale up the operations globally. Currently over
30,000 patients from 18 countries actively use
the platform. Onco.com will utilize the funds to
build team, scale operations and expand customer
outreach within India and internationally.

SRI Capital leads $3M funding for Meddo

Meddo, India’s first 360 trained peri clinical staff
for in clinic and at home
degree connected health sample collection and
have served more than
platform has raised 1,50,000 customers so
far. Founded in 2018,
$3 million in their the platform functions in
offline and online space
Pre- Series A funding - through standalone
doctor establishments
led by SRI Capital with the central
objective of bringing
with participation together all healthcare
needs for the patients
from growX Ventures, onto a single platform, bringing
convenient and comprehensive
LetsVenture, Jitendra care into healthcare.

Gupta (Co-founder

Citrus Pay) and Venture

Gurukool, among

others. The Gurugram

based startup currently

has over 400 doctors and 200 closely with all dominant NABL
accredited diagnostic lab partners
clinics and is currently operational across the city. They work with 250

in Delhi NCR. Meddo works

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com START UPS NEWS 19

Agatsa raises Inito receives US patent for
home diagnostic technology
$1M led by
Inito, a Bengaluru based medical on the test strip and the strip is
IAN and TDB technology startup that is also inserted into the Inito device.
India’s first Y-Combinator backed The device is then attached
Delhi Based startup medtech startup has been granted to the phone whose camera
Agatsa has raised $1 patent rights for their Flat-lens captures images of the strip
million in funding from technology by the United States through the flat lens. The device
Indian Angel Network Patent and Trademark Office also automatically calibrates
(IAN) and the Technology (USPTO). This patent will further the variations between different
Development Board Inito’s mission of becoming a phones giving the same accuracy
(TDB), Department of global health-tech company irrespective of the phone used.
Science and Technology, out of India. The patented Flat- The Inito app displays the result
Government of India. The lens technology allows the Inito and also tracks the values for
start-up is working in the device to perform dozens of lab- analysis. Fertility is the first test
field of creating affordable grade diagnostic tests at home supported by the Inito device.
and pocket-sized just using a smartphone and a It enables women to track their
healthcare devices that low cost device. Inito comes with fertile days at home and increase
help in the early diagnosis the Inito Reader, App and the their chances of getting pregnant
and management of Test strips. The sample is put by 89 per cent.
lifestyle diseases. With
this funding, Agatsa will Bayer G4A partners
scale up its operations with Wellthy Therapeutics
and marketing along
with expanding its global Mumbai based startup Wellthy Therapeutics, South Asia’s leading
outreach. Their flagship digital therapeutics company has announced its partnership with Bayer
products under the name through its G4A partnership initiative. As part of the partnership, the
of SanketLife 2.0 and German lifesciences group’s G4A
SanketLife Pro+ are the team will be working closely with
world’s first and only Wellthy Therapeutics to improve
portable medical-grade the latter’s product, regulatory and
12-LEAD ECG devices that commercialization capabilities while
can be carried around in exploring areas of collaboration.
the pocket. Bayer’s G4A team is present in over 34
countries, working towards enabling
positive disruption in the digital health
and care industry, through new business
opportunities and partnerships with Bayer. Bayer recognizes Digital
Therapeutics (DTx) as an important category of health care, delivering
evidence-based therapeutic interventions built with high quality software
programs to prevent, manage, or treat specific chronic conditions.

20 WHO NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

WHO welcomes vital addition to Global Funds

The World Health Organization against drug resistance and
(WHO) welcomes new other threats. It is expected that
funding commitments made the Global Fund will continue
at the Global Fund’s Sixth to invest a good proportion
Replenishment Conference in of this money to strengthen
Lyon hosted by the Government health systems, including
of France, on 9th October building diagnostics capacities,
2019. The pledges, amounting surveillance systems and supply
to $14.02 billion will cover a chains. WHO and the Global
three-year period (2020-2022) Fund have worked closely
to finance the fight against HIV, together since the Global Fund
TB and malaria. The renewed was set up in 2002 to help
commitment to replenish the countries establish and sustain
Global Fund will mean that nationally-driven programmes
over 110 affected countries will to fight HIV, TB and malaria. It
receive critical financial support provides vitally needed funding,
for health allowing them to while WHO supplies technical
scale up infectious diseases expertise and guidance at both
responses and to fight back global and country level.

WHO launches app to WHO releases first
improve elderly care world report on vision

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a 1 billion people worldwide are living with vision
package of tools, including a digital application to help impairment because they do not get the care
health and social workers provide better care for older they need for conditions like short and far
people. The innovative interactive digital application sightedness, glaucoma and cataract, according
known as WHO ICOPE Handbook App provides practical to the first world report on vision issued by the
guidance to address priority conditions including World Health Organization. The report found
mobility limitations, malnutrition, vision and hearing that ageing populations, changing lifestyles and
loss, cognitive decline, depressive symptoms and social limited access to eye care, particularly in low- and
care and support. Used in conjunction with a package of middle-income countries, are among the main
tools including a new handbook, the app will accelerate drivers of the rising numbers of people living
training of health and social workers to better address with vision impairment. According to the report,
the diverse needs of older people. The Integrated Care stronger integration of eye care is needed within
for Older People package of tools is the result of two national health services, including at primary
years of extensive consultations with leading experts and health care level, to ensure that the eye care
stakeholders including civil society representatives. needs of more people are addressed, including
through prevention, early detection, treatment
and rehabilitation.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com ANALYSIS 21

India announces major tax

cuts to boost investment

USV Private Limited, an Indian She also noted that in order to attract fresh
multinational pharmaceutical and
biotechnology company based in Mumbai investment in manufacturing and thereby
reacting quickly to the developments and
leveraging on the government’s surprise corporate provide boost to ‘Make-in-India’ initiative of the
tax rate cut on September 20 announced that
it will proceed with its investment of Rs 400 government, another new provision has been
crore on a new state-of-art formulation plant at
Vadodara in Gujarat. inserted in the Income-tax Act with effect from

The company noted that the announcement FY 2019-20 which allows any new domestic
by the government has provided the much needed
boost to the pharmaceutical manufacturing company incorporated on or after October 1, 2019
sector that requires investments to provide
world class medicines to the population, at large. making fresh investment in manufacturing, an
While the tax cut announced by the government
will increase capital spending and generate option to pay income-tax at the rate of 15%. This
employment in the pharmaceutical sector, these
investments will also go a long way to improve benefit is available to companies which do not
sustainability and capacities in pharmaceutical
manufacturing. avail any exemption/incentive and commences

In order to promote growth and investment in their production on or before March 31, 2023.
India, the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate
Affairs Nirmala Sitaraman announced that the The effective tax rate for these companies shall be
Government of India has brought in the Taxation
Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 to make 17.01% inclusive of surcharge & cess. Also, such
certain amendments in the Income-tax Act 1961
and the Finance (No. 2) Act 2019. companies shall not be required to pay MAT.

The Finance Minister said “a new The minister also said that a company which
provision has been inserted
in the Income-tax Act does not opt for the concessional tax regime and
with effect from
FY 2019-20 avails the tax exemption/incentive shall continue
which allows
any domestic to pay tax at the pre-amended rate. However,
company an
option to pay these companies can opt for the concessional tax
income-tax at
the rate of 22% subject regime after expiry of their tax holiday/exemption
to condition that they will
not avail any exemption/ period. After the exercise of the option they
incentive. The effective tax
rate for these companies shall be liable to pay tax at the rate of 22% and
shall be 25.17% inclusive
of surcharge & cess. Also, option once exercised cannot be subsequently
such companies shall not be
required to pay Minimum withdrawn. Further, in order to provide relief to
Alternate Tax (MAT).”
companies which continue to avail exemptions/

incentives, the rate of MAT

has been reduced

from existing

18.5% to 15%.

The

government has

also decided

to expand

the scope of

Corporate Social

Responsibility

(CSR) 2%

spending. Now

CSR 2% fund

can be spent

on incubators

funded by

Central or State

Government

or any agency

or Public Sector

22 ANALYSIS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Undertaking of Central or State Government, stabilise the flow of funds to the capital markets
and, making contributions to public funded by not applying the enhanced rate of surcharge on
Universities, IITs, National Laboratories and capital gains arising from sale of equity shares and
Autonomous Bodies engaged in conducting units of equity funds is another major positive.
research in science, technology, engineering This will make India an even more attractive
and medicine aimed at promoting Sustainable destination for funds flow and is bound to draw
Development Goals (SDGs). much greater attention from foreign institutional
investors,” added Somany.
Reacting to the announcements Dr Kiran
Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman of Association of Welcoming the tax measures, Vikram
Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE), said “The Kirloskar, President, Confederation of Indian
Finance Minister has given a huge booster shot Industry (CII), said “The drastic reduction in
to exports of Pharmaceutical R&D services by corporate taxes is a huge game-changer for the
removing the burden of 18% GST making it at par economy and is truly a decisive announcement
with IT services. for awakening animal spirits of investors.
It will catalyse investments, particularly in
“The removal of 18% GST on export of manufacturing, infuse huge confidence among
research services will save the industry at least Rs investors, and set a new springboard for growth.”
170 crore and price their services competitively
in the fierce global market. The GST removal will CII further said “This consultative approach
attract investment in creating and scaling hubs of has further bolstered positive spirits in industry
global research facilities, providing highly skilled that the government is on a fearless track to
jobs to our large pool of scientists, engineers and ensure that India becomes as competitive on tax
clinicians who will be engaged in discovering and rates with the rest of the world. This also indicates
developing cost competitive drugs, diagnostics that the government is adopting a tax stimulus
and vaccines for global healthcare needs,” Dr route rather than using increasing government
Mazumdar-Shaw added. spending route to help the recovery process of the
economy. Coming just ahead of the festive season,
The 37th meeting of the GST Council on there could not have been a better news as the
September 20, 2019 in Goa had acceded to the entire country gets ready to celebrate.”
industry’s long-time request to treat biotech
research service exports on par with IT services The minister has given industry what it asked
exports for GST exemption. India’s exports of for by lowering corporate taxes for new companies
research services, clinical services and contract to 22% without exemptions and incentives. The
manufacturing will now be globally competitive major cut in tax rates places India in a formidable
and increase exports multi fold from the current position to capture new growth opportunities
$ 3.5 billion (Rs 22,000 crore). “By 2025, India and create massive employment. Industry
can position itself as a global pharmaceutical warmly welcomes these decisions, added the CII
innovation hub in addition to being the pharmacy statement.
of the world,” Dr Mazumdar-Shaw added.
Corporate India has for long been advocating
The Federation of Indian Chambers of standardised rates of corporate taxation, as a
Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President Sandip tool to drive creation of investible surplus and
Somany said, “These announcements will give enhanced dividend payouts to drive purchasing
a major boost to the animal spirits of corporate power. Dr Prathap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo
India and will reinvigorate the manufacturing Hospitals, said “At this time of global economic
sector that has been going through a difficult slowdown, we see this announcement as a decisive
phase of late. With these kind of corporate tax move by the Government of India to enhance
rate cuts, India now becomes a competitive competitiveness of Indian industry in the domestic
market in the region with our rates similar to and international arena. We are very grateful to
those prevailing in the ASEAN countries. FICCI is the Government of India for their dynamic and
sure that this trigger will lead to a virtuous cycle flexible approach, and for being responsive to the
of investments, growth and higher employment. needs of Indian industry. We assure them that
We are grateful to the Finance Minister and the we will rise to the challenge of economic growth
government for being bold and resolute in its and job creation, and do everything in our power
approach towards the economy and addressing to make the Government’s vision of GDP of $ 5
the problems in a very comprehensive and trillion by 2025 a reality.”
focussed manner.”
Narayan Kulkarni
“The additional measures announced to [email protected]

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 23

DIGITIZATION
IMPROVES LAB
SUPPLY CHAIN
MANAGEMENT
Time is a major obstacle
According to Invest India, a non-profit venture under the for the invention of a
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, new product or for the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India’s biotechnology development of a novel
sector holds around 3 per cent share of the global biotechnology product from basic concepts.
industry and has more than 600 companies along with more The time taken for an idea
than 2,600 biotech startups. In addition, there are more than to be proved, prototyped and
200 research institutes in India working on innovations in the developed into beneficial
areas related to food, chemical, industrial, medical, marine, invention determines the
pharmaceutical, nanoscience, agriculture, biomedical, etc. success of the product
as there are multiple
The potential of biotechnology is endless but the journey of competitors existing in the
innovation is challenging. The scientists and researchers involved market. As a result, scientists
in this field face a number of arduous tasks while carrying out have to manage their time
efficiently while executing
their projects. However,
unfortunately a lot of time is
wasted when the required lab
supplies such as reagents,
kits, consumables, equipment
etc. are not available while
conducting crucial research
experiments. Scientists
often struggle in contacting
the right biosuppliers,
establishing trust with a new
brand of product or facing
delays in the delivery of an
urgent material.

24 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

their experiments every day. Time is a major Associate, Microbiology & Cell Biology
obstacle for the invention of a new product or Group, Indian Institute of Science (IISc),
for the development of a novel product from Bangalore.
basic concepts. The time taken for an idea to be
proved, prototyped and developed into beneficial Quoting few more hurdles, Dr Vartika
invention determines the success of the product Sharma, Post-doctoral researcher, School
as there are multiple competitors existing in the of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru
market. As a result, scientists have to manage University (JNU), New
their time efficiently while executing their projects. Delhi, says “Laboratory
However, unfortunately a lot of time is wasted management is a very
when the required lab supplies such as reagents, important part of the
kits, consumables, equipment etc. are not available scientific sector but it is
while conducting crucial research experiments. often ignored. We are not
Scientists often struggle in contacting the right able to communicate with
biosuppliers, establishing trust with a new brand of the suppliers, small or big/
product or facing delays in the delivery of an urgent new or old, on a regular
material. basis in order to make
ourselves aware of the new
A typical biotechnology laboratory is filled with products in their kitty. At times, we hesitate in
a range of research products such as centrifuges, reaching out to new suppliers because of reliability
mixers, baths, microscopes, shakers, stirrers, kits, reasons. Thus, the communication needs to be
heaters, electrophoresis units, dyes, detectors, enhanced at both ends.”
pH meters, pipettes, freezers etc. to carry out
general as well as specialized procedures such On the other hand, researchers working for
as DNA isolation, DNA separation, protein international research institutes within India
purification, immunoassays, electro mobility experience better management when it comes to
shifting, chromatography, mass spectrometry,
flow cytometry, to name a few. These tools assist
scientists to carry out the various critical studies
eventually leading to an innovative product waiting
to hit the market. But the unavailability or delay
in procurement of such tools can slow down the
process of innovation.

“A lot of time goes by in finalizing and placing
the orders for our regular consumables. Although
we have identified and established a set of suppliers
whom we usually contact, at times the formalities
and procedural work takes up time. Sometimes,
there are delays at the supplier’s end since the
material is coming from the US. We cannot do
much about it then since we have a preference
and reliability for certain brands and products.
We cannot afford to compromise on quality. For
example, we approach branded names for our
consumables and antibodies. But if we have a low
or medium impact equipment purchase where

maintenance can be a
hassle, we look out for
local manufacturers.
We wish that if a more
organized supply system
can be built in the
research ecosystem, it will
save a lot of our time”,
shares Dr Saurabh
Mishra, Research

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 25

Researchers’ Concerns

● Lack of communication with biosuppliers
● Preference towards established brands
● Reluctance towards new suppliers/products
● Lengthy procedures of obtaining supplies
● Delayed Deliveries

Solutions from BioSuppliers

● Attend trade fairs, roadshows, exhibitions
● Encourage new players
● Increase communication
● Hold demos within institutes
● Use digital systems

Trending online
portals selling lab supplies

● Industrybuying. ● Lab.equipment
com ● Analytics-shop.

● Labbazaar.in com
● Biomall.in ● Biocompare
● Ibuychemikals. ● CloudKrate
● Labassets.com
com ● Labx.com
● Labx.com

placing and receiving supplies, clearly indicating Annual Trade Fairs
a disparity in the way public and private research showcasing lab supplies
institutes work. Dr Ved
Prakash Dwivedi, ● Asia Labex
Group Leader, ● Lab Analytix South World Expo
Immunobiology ● Analytica Anacon India
Group, International ● Lab Tech Expo
Centre for Genetic ● LabTek World
Engineering and
Biotechnology time on non-research activities such as getting hold
(ICGEB), New Delhi on to the right supplier for the product or tracking
points out, “There is a the order. As a result, she developed an idea of
well-organized supply setting up her own company CloudKrate in 2016
management website for all research groups at in order to revolutionize the laboratory supply
ICGEB where we can track and place orders. There management with digital solutions. CloudKrate
is a list of frequently contacted suppliers in the provides leading Indian distributors of life science
database which makes our work easy. It saves a lot products a user friendly platform to bring their
of time.” catalogs, live pricing, latest sales offers to their
customers. The portal does not allow purchasing
Dr Shambhavi Naik observed differences when of products but allows the researchers to explore
she returned to India to pursue her post-doctoral the latest in the market. The startup has partnered
studies after completing her doctorate from the UK. with leading life sciences laboratories, bio-medical
She realized that scientists in India struggle to get research groups and a number of life science
their lab supplies on time resulting in inefficient product consumers to improve cost savings.
project planning and delays. Further, they waste
“We had conducted an anonymous survey
of around 40 researchers including principal
investigators, post-doctoral and doctoral students

26 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

in various academic institutes such as National to purchase lab products”,
Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Indian highlights Dr Jhaveri,
Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institute of Founder, Biomall.in.
Science Education and Research (IISER) etc. and
found out that researchers spend overwhelming At present, there
time searching for the products on Google. They are many such portals
rely on websites of manufacturers, physical similar to Biomall,
contacts and support of offering information
laboratory support offices. and purchase of various
This indicates a substantial lab equipment and
time investment by consumables. Ironically,
researchers in searching many researchers are not even aware of these
and finding distributor websites. But the need of the hour is not only about
contacts and a lack of obtaining information of various supplies, but also
process digitization”, points to develop an organized system within the research
out Dr Shambhavi, environment where the entire procedure of supply
Founder & CEO, management can be expedited. “I headed a cancer
CloudKrate. biology laboratory in India for 4 years as middle
level faculty. I also worked on faculty positions in
Observing similar difficulties in the laboratory United States for 11 years prior to that. I felt the
supply chain management in Indian labs, Dr S Indian science research ecosystem works largely
Jhaveri opened an online E-commerce Portal for on outdated paper based methods, purchases for
laboratory products in 2012, after returning from the consumables and acquisitions of large items
the US where he was pursuing his PhD. Currently, is mostly tender based. There seems to be almost
the portal offers 200,000+ products listed no scope of automation since the researchers
from about 85+ brands to support chemistry, need to follow the policies that consider everyone
microbiology, cell culture, chromatography,
genetics, and proteomics research. Many suppliers
across India are associated with Biomall.in to
promote their brands, launch new products and
liquidate their stocks. “Majority of scientific
laboratories in India still follow the traditional
system of inviting multiple quotations, followed
by indenting, generation of purchase orders and
payment to suppliers 30-90 days after delivery. A
single purchase-sale cycle thus lasts for months.
Even the rate contract system, wherein a vendor
is chosen for a particular brand at the start of the
financial year, is inefficient as the institute has
to rely on a single vendor who might not have
stocks readily available and cannot purchase
from any other vendor who might have stocks
for the required product. Typically a lab buys
products from multiple brands so again they need
to contact multiple vendors and a lot of time is
invested in procuring day-to-day lab supplies. So
while a lab in India would take months just to get
their supplies; elsewhere laboratories in countries
with more advanced purchasing systems would
have already completed their project by the time
supplies reach the scientists bench in India. This
is a critical factor that needs to be addressed
immediately else India will further lag behind
in terms of innovations. Also, inefficiencies in
systems lead to increased costs and so scientists
spend not only more time but also more money

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 27

a scamster until caught. Online purchase portals the brunt, while the private sector has eased out
especially for laboratory stuff are inexistent or the stress for the employees by providing digital
really not of any use. All inventories are required solutions to them. On the other side of the supply
to be in paper registers to be available for audit chain, biosuppliers are devising newer alternatives
by department audit team and institution audit to make things easier for their customers.
teams who stamp them during their annual audit
and inventory checks. Electronic inventory is not Suppliers’ Perspective
considered as authentic record since it can be
edited based on need. Things are slightly different Providing an array of solutions to the scientists,
in private sector but since government rules apply Praveen Gupta,
to their purchases not much can be done for them. Managing Director,
The concept of digitization Premas Life Sciences
seems interesting but for it says, “If the labs are looking
to achieve success in India for solutions, the industry
would be a difficult feat”, would be more than willing
points out Dr Sanjay and simple and smart
Katiyar, Scientific ways can lead to a win-
Review Advisor, Center win for both the user and
for Peer Review and supplier. I would suggest
Scientific Management, that an online portal like
US. Biocompare could do wonders, where all products
for a particular application can be made for Indian
It seems evident that customers and better still if there is a link created
the public sector is following age-old supply for ordering via the rate contract system. Monthly
management systems in the laboratories and exhibits or talks can be allowed in the institutes
institutes, of which the scientists are bearing on charge basis where vendors, even small and

28 COVER STORY BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

new, can demonstrate their products to the entire ones affected, suppliers
institute at one go. Students and faculties will get too have their own set of
to know new and alternate solutions here. Even challenges in this field. At
the institutes can generate some revenue through times small scale suppliers
this. Formal demo of principle programmes find it very difficult to
can be introduced where new products can be convince the customers to
demonstrated without any risk of the user”. buy their products as they
face competition from the
Raising a concern on the authenticity of online established brands. It is
portals selling laboratory supplies of different easy for the branded names
brands on a single platform, to receive orders from the research institutes while
Dheeraj Handique, the small players struggle, no matter how much
Deputy Manager, they advertise their products. A problem lies in the
Application Support, mindset of the researchers. They do not explore
Shimadzu Analytical new products and players in the market. They are
India, points out, stuck with the brands. However, the young minds
“Shimadzu tries to reach in the private sector are gradually opening up
out to as many customers now and have started exploring new players in the
either directly or through its biosupplier market.”
distributors. The difficulties
facing the researchers Adding some hope to further enhance the
are understandable but the idea of switching to communication gap and issues between the
online portals for lab supplies can have reliability researchers and biosuppliers, a number of trade
issues especially if a high-end instrument is being fairs and exhibitions are conducted on large
purchased through these portals. A trust issue will scales across India by various organisers and
always linger in the minds of the customers and the associations. To name a few, trade fairs such
suppliers will have to bear the consequences”. as Asia Labex, Lab Analytix South World Expo,
Analytica Anacon India, Lab Tech Expo and
Considering the digital tool as the best method LabTek world showcase newer lab technology
for each supplier to reach out to maximum and analytical instrumentation catering to the
customers, Chirag pharmaceutical, food processing, research and
Khambhati, Marketing development industry in India, under one roof.
Programme Manager, “Every year we exhibit our
Life science, Agilent latest innovative products
Technologies India at trade fairs and related
mentions, “Agilent expos in India and abroad.
organizes a lot of It helps us in connecting
programmes and seminars with new customers and
to make the customers increases our network,”
aware of our new products shares Abhishek
in the market. We release Awasthi, International
many EDMs and email marketing campaigns in Marketing Manager,
order to keep the customers updated. As far as Microlit.
promoting common online portals for purchasing
or comparing lab products of different brands is At the end of it, an effort from the public sector
concerned, it might not be the most apt solution is required to break the mould and address their
since some amount of risk or uncertainty will own limitations by implementing and adapting
always prevail regarding the authenticity of the to technology. Although new technology has the
products. However, a digitized system for placing potential to drive innovation and new platforms,
orders and maintaining contacts of suppliers can waves of digitization might take time to seep
be developed within the institutes. We are also in through existing systems that are too slow to keep
the process of launching new digital solutions for up. We can only hope that the wave of digitization
laboratories in India where inventory of supplies re-shapes the supply chain management in the
can be managed in a better way”. laboratories within the public sector in the best
possible way.
Putting across a contradictory thought in
this direction, Sushant Sahni, Director, Dr Manbeena Chawla
Qualikems says, “Researchers are not the only [email protected]

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com COVER STORY 29

Improving laboratory management

« Distinction between Operations Management
System and Sample Management System
Shabir Ahmad, Lab business has grown rapidly in scope and
Account Manager - complexity over last two decades. Labs have been
Turkey, Middle East, converted from cost centers to profit centers, there
Africa, South Asia, has been massive growth in CRO business to support
iLab Operations pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device
Management Software, industries and collaboration between institutions is
Agilent Technologies now common, especially in research. There is a need
UK for dedicated software to support such changes.

To achieve higher productivity, improve People tend to use Laboratory Information
efficiency and reduce costs, lab managers must Management System (LIMS) phrase to mean all sorts
answer key questions: of things. Distinction needs to be made between the
   Are we utilizing our assets efficiently? business side of labs and the technical operation.
   Do I have extra capacity to take on more work? Any solution that is focused on the business, such as
 C  an I balance workload using existing tracking work requests, generating quotes, approvals,
instruments? invoice & billing, allocation of staff to projects
and reporting should be termed as Operations
   Do I have the right laboratory head count? Management System (OMS). System that focuses on
  H  ow do I secure best prices from inventory pure sample management, where sample registration,
procurement? test configuration, sample validation and analysis
   How can I efficiently manage consumables for of results is concerned, these should be termed as
my labs? Sample Management System (SMS).
Labs in pharma and research have lagged behind
other industries in adopting latest technology for What to look for in software that manages
managing the facilities operations. Paper logbooks business of your lab
are still widely used to schedule time on equipment, So how do you select the best operations management
charges for lab services are calculated manually, software for your lab? Below are some of key
and billing may not be very accurate as items can be considerations to look for:
missed in the invoices. Lack of integrations with back-
end financial systems such as SAP or Oracle Financials    Scalability– You should be able to start small,
adds to the admin time of staff. Also, managing lab for example, from a single lab, and deploy the solution
consumables using Excel is a rather cumbersome to multiple labs when you expand.
where management does not have a view of what is in
stock or what is running low.    Centralized scheduling system for all
One way to address these problems is to adopt new assets– Not just for equipment, but also for other
breed of cloud-based software specifically designed assets like lab rooms and human resources such as
for core labs. These solutions are often labelled as researchers and consultants.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) software where annual
subscription is paid for usage, and software is available    Services request management– Solution
on the cloud. should give you the ability to receive work or orders
Advantages of cloud-based software are that clients directly from clients. It should be workflow-based
don’t need to invest in local server hardware, they don’t system with quote generating ability and approvals
need to hire technical people and implementation built in.
times are quite short. Overall, clients get a cheaper
solution that is available almost 100 per cent of the    Audits logs– The ability to record every
time. However, major disadvantages of cloud-based request and change is vital for compliances, audits,
solutions are that Internet connection is required, and accreditations and meeting various ISO standards.
there is limited scope for customized functionality
enhancements.    Charge for services– Solution should allow
you to set different charge rates for different clients
and generate invoices automatically.

   Integration capabilities– Major labs
nowadays require integration of various systems, like
SMS, financial and procurement systems. Look for
software that has Application Programming Interface
(API).

30 SPECIAL BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Rs 15K CRORE INDIAN
ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS
MARKET GROWING AT 4%
Although India is suffering the
after-effects of new tax reform presence in the country.
applications, a massive generic drug Besides there are hundreds of small and
industry and sprouting biotech
medium size companies who have been in
the business in India catering to the different

startups, especially in medical and requirements in public and private sectors

drug discovery, contract research areas, will comprising of academia, pharma and biotech

continue to sustain growth of the market. companies, contract/ clinical research

The overall analytical instruments market organisations (CROs) etc.

in India is over Rs 15,000 crore growing at 4 Sales in academia space originated from

per cent. Basic research, pharma and biotech, the vast number of universities and research

contract and clinical research are contributing institutes as well as the continued investments

over 50 per cent of the total market in the in scientific infrastructure, is the larger market

country. According to SDi Global Assessment for life sciences segment. Pharmaceutical and

Report 2019, the market is expecting a CAGR of 6 biotech companies occupy the next largest

per cent in the next five years and likely to touch market slices, and it so happens that this is also

Rs 16,700 crore. the space that drives much of the market growth

Mumbai based Thermo Fisher Scientific for the analytical instruments industry. These

India Pvt Ltd is a leading analytical instruments companies have been using spectrometers,

company in India with sales revenue of Rs 2100 alcohol analyzers, refractometers, titrators and

crore in 2018-19 and team strength of over 2000 moisture analyzers.

and 400 channel partners. Bangalore based As top drug companies continue to feed their

Waters India Pvt Ltd with total sales revenue of pipeline with novel new products, they constantly

Rs 1300 crore stands at No 2 position followed by equip their R&D and QC laboratories with new

Sartorius Stedim India Pvt Ltd, Bangalore which instruments, as well as provide a substantial

stands at third place with total sales revenue of installed based for spending on aftermarket

Rs 500 crore in 2018-19. products and service. These companies also

There are over 100 leading companies in routinely outsource their work to CROs, fuelling

analytical instruments space in the country the demand from this segment as well. The

who are dominating the space supported by reliance of hospitals and clinical laboratories on

hundreds of distributors/ channel partners life science instruments leads them to capture

spread across the country. All the top 50 global one-tenth of the market.

analytical instruments companies namely Some of leading distributors in the country

Thermo Fisher, Agilent, Danaher, Illumina, include Spinco Biotech, Lab India, Imperial Life

Merck, Waters, Shimadzu, PerkinElmer, Bruker, Sciences, DSS Imagetech, Genetix Biotech Asia,

Mettler Toledo, Becton Dickinson, QIAGEN, Labmate Asia, Premas Life Sciences, Saksham

GE, ZEISS, Bio-Rad, Hitachi, JEOL, AMETEK, Technologies, Esco Biotech and others.

Roche, Sartorius Eppendorf, Olympus, Spectris, India still depending on the import of all kinds

Nikon, Tecan, Rigaku , Promega, Anton Paar, of analytical instruments as it is still unable to

HORIBA, Oxford Instruments, Metrohm, develop and manufacture these kind of high end

Avantor, Luminex, Dassault Systèmes (BIOVIA), precision equipment unlike in case of vaccines,

FOSS, JASCO, Xylem, ITW, Takara Bio, Roper, biosimilars and blood products. However Indian

MTS, Endress+Hauser, TOSOH, LECO, Hanna companies are very much active in supplying lab

Instruments, Zwick Roell, Parker Hannifin, consumables, kits, reagents, lab equipment, cell

Teledyne and LabWare, have a direct or indirect culture media and lab chemicals.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPECIAL 31

India's Top Analytical Instruments Companies 2019*

S. No Company Total Revenue in Category Location Region
2018-19 (in crore)
1 Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt. Ltd. Principal Mumbai West
2 Waters India Pvt Ltd 2100.00 Principal Bangalore South
3 Sartorius Stedim India Pvt Ltd 1300.00 Principal Bangalore South
4 Shimadzu Analytical (India) Pvt Ltd 500.00 Principal Mumbai West
5 DSS Imagetech Pvt. Ltd. 467.50 Distributor New Delhi North
6 Premas Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. 204.59 Distributor New Delhi North
7 Eppendorf India Private Limited 184.00 Principal Chennai South
8 Genetix Biotech Asia Pvt Limited 145.00 Distributor New Delhi North
9 Saksham Technologies Private Limited 101.00 Distributor Mumbai West
10 Esco Biotech Private Limited Distributor Mumbai West
61.96
51.89

* We have not covered some of the leading Analytical Instruments Companies as they are unable to participate in the BioSpectrum Survy 2019

Mumbai based  Thermo Fisher  Bangalore based
Thermo Fisher Scientific India Waters India Pvt
Scientific India Pvt Ltd is a Ltd with total
Pvt Ltd holds leading analytical sales revenue
instruments of Rs 1300 crore
No 1 position company in 2nd position
India with sales and Sartorius
in Analytical revenue of Rs Stedim India Pvt
Instruments 2100 crore in Ltd, Bangalore
market in India 2018-19 and at third place
team strength with total sales
of over 2000 revenue of Rs
and 400 channel 500 crore in
partners. 2018-19.

BIOSPECTRUM ANALYTICAL
INSTRUMENTS SURVEY & METHODOLOGY
BioSpectrum India, a sister publication of
NuFFooDS Spectrum, is a leading B2B media Centrifuges. We highlighted the companies
platform in Lifesciences space since 2003 (both Principal and Distributors) based on their
has conducted its ranking special edition in achievements in the past financial years. A detailed
questionnaire (survey form) was sent to over 100

June 2019. In this survey we looked at only companies in this space to capture the needed

the Analytical Instruments Companies specializing in information for the analysis. This was done during

Analytical Instrumentation - spectrometers, alcohol June 2019 (Sales revenues of all the companies are

analyzers, refractometers, titrators and moisture in Rs Crore and Rs 70= 1USD). Companies shared

analyzers, PCR machines, Chromatography, Mass information with us to the extent it was possible by

Spectrometer, Flow Cytometer, Spectrophotometer, them.

# For all the ranking purposes we have taken the total sales revenues of the companies. In several cases, where revenue figures were not available, estimates were arrived in
discussion with industry experts.

32 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“We have developed
over 15000 NCEs this year”

« discovery, development, and commercialization
companies for the past 18 years. During it’s recently
Swapan Bhattacharya, conducted survey on the BioServices industry in
Managing Director, India, BioSpectrum interacted in detail with Swapan
TCG Lifesciences Pvt. Bhattacharya, Managing Director, TCGLS, who has
Limited, Kolkata taken the company to a global leadership level in the
research services space since its inception in 2001.
Aleading global Contract Research and Edited Excerpts;
Manufacturing Services (CRAMS)
company in the area of drug discovery What are the key highlights at TCG Lifesciences
and development, TCG Lifesciences Pvt. this year?
Limited started its operations in 2001 in We had the best ever year in the company’s history
Kolkata and currently has presence in the so far. We reached a headcount of approximately
United States, Europe, and Japan. Formerly 880 scientists/engineers and have now serviced
known as Chembiotek Research International, over 260 customers. In the past 12 months or
TCG Lifesciences (TCGLS) has a strong talent so, our intellectual inputs led to 20 patent filings
pool of more than 800 qualified and trained and publications and nomination of several
scientists, drawn from the best domestic and drug candidates/stage-gate transitions. We have
international institutes and industry. The synthesized over 15,000 new chemical entities
company’s services span chemistry, in vitro and (NCEs) for innovator companies during this time. In
in vivo pharmacology, analytical development parallel, we are continuing with the transition from a
and validation, and specialty chemicals. TCGLS reputed CRO to a CRAMS player with the inception
offers specific, functional solutions to integrated of analytical method validation facility in Kolkata and
projects across multiple therapeutic areas with API manufacturing facility in Hyderabad. Both the
specific focus on Inflammation & Pain, Infectious facilities were inspected by US FDA and found to be
Diseases, Central Nervous System and Oncology. compliant. We established an additional 10,000 sq.
Its research infrastructure includes world-class ft. animal lab which is expected to receive AAALAC
chemistry and biology laboratories, animal accreditation in early 2020. We received multiple
facility, electrophysiology laboratory, BSL 2 awards from customers and our Human Resource
laboratory, and cGMP facilities at the R&D center team bagged the National Excellence Award in
in Kolkata. category “Best Innovation in HR” and our HR head
has received the “CHRO of the year award”.
In addition, the company has a wholly owned
USFDA approved subsidiary Clininvent Research How was the company’s performance during
Pvt. Ltd. in Hyderabad. Clininvent offers custom the FY18-19 and what are the expectations
manufacturing services for the production of from the FY19-20?
cGMP Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (NCEs Since we are a private company, we do not disclose
and Generic APIs), GMP ready regulatory financial details of the company. However, what I
starting materials (RSMs) to the pharma and fine can mention is that we had a stellar year in 2018-19
chemicals industries for the production of active achieving 43 per cent growth in revenues and 210
ingredients, excipients, starting materials, and per cent in profits year-on-year. We expect continued
intermediates. Together with Clininvent, TCGLS growth and strong financial performance for FY 19-
has been providing an end-to-end solution for drug 20 and beyond due to:

(1) Nearly doubling of our manufacturing
capacity;

(2) 25 per cent growth of lab scale chemistry

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 33

capacity; high-end research services and is one of the fastest
(3) Setting up of new analytical development lab; growing segments of the country’s pharmaceutical
(4) Expansion of ADME/PK testing labs; industry. The country has a low cost of production,
(5) Creating of a comprehensive oncology in vivo low R&D costs, innovative scientific manpower, and
a large number of national laboratories that have the
experimental suite; and potential to steer the industry ahead to a higher level.
(6) The establishment of an Innovation Center India has the highest number of USFDA-approved
plants for generic drug manufacturing outside the
in the US, with an experienced pharmaceutical team US. India’s pharmaceutical service industry size
employing the latest synthetic chemistry, engineering is growing at around 20 per cent, with contract
and analytical technologies. research, development and manufacturing sector
contributing around 90 per cent, rest 10 per cent by
How much of the company’s business is clinical research. The industry with more than 1,000
covered in exports and domestic? players who have generated approximately Rs 26,000
We are mainly an export unit, with 95 per cent of crore in 2018-19. Importantly, the strengthening of
revenues exported to the US, Europe, Japan and Chinese anti-pollution laws which resulted in the
China. However, we expect our domestic businesses shutdown of many industrial units, poses a lucrative
to grow because of the deliverables coming out of the opportunity for Indian companies to capture this
manufacturing facility. business.

How many development and manufacturing The key challenge being faced by the Indian
facilities do you have in India? CRAMS industry in recent years stem from the
many Indian manufacturing units failing statutory
We are manufacturing from a single integrated inspections as the global regulatory bodies, such as
site in Hyderabad with a total reactor capacity of US FDA and EMA, have imposed stricter standards
approximately 200KL. It houses clean rooms with for drug exports from India. In addition, the QC
Class 100,000 chambers, large hydrogenation standards and analytical chemistry sophistication
capacity, a pilot plant, high end analytical QC labs of many manufacturing players have made India’s
and state-of-the-art zero liquid discharge system. We offerings more “commodity oriented” than “value
also have preferred intermediate suppliers both in added”. Therefore, implementation of newer
India and China. technologies and more research driven inputs in
the manufacturing process have become vital. To
What are your plans on expanding into the high a smaller extent than before, interpretations of
growth generic APIs domain in India? intellectual property protection that favour generics
We have started with manufacturing of advanced and biosimilars, impact of the goods and services tax
intermediates and regulatory starting materials, (GST) on sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution
however, now with the availability of manufacturing channels, as well as policies and practices that
licenses for APIs, we are aggressively looking to enter support local manufacturers have hampered
this sector. We bring to bear our strong synthetic industry growth.
chemistry and analytical expertise, built over the
last 20 years in TCGLS, toward developing new and Dr Manbeena Chawla
innovative synthetic pathways for potential APIs on [email protected]
behalf of our customers. We are also in the process
of generating new IP, utilizing a dedicated team of
50+ synthetic and 30+ analytical chemists to focus
on drug molecules going off patent in high growth
and high value segments. We have added additional
capacities in order to service these areas of the
business. Finally, our subsidiary in the US employs
global experts in green and novel, next-generation,
development technologies such as flow or continuous
chemistry, catalysis etc. which can revolutionize the
current industry practices.

What is the current hold of the Contract
Research and Manufacturing Services sector in
India? What are the challenges being faced?
India’s Contract Research and Manufacturing
Services (CRAMS) sector is globally recognized for its

34 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“PPPs, CoEs are needed to
practice precision diabetes care”

« What kind of partnerships or collaborations
are you seeking, as part of your strategy?
Omar Sherief With our ambition of 1000 days and roughly
Mohammad, 730 days remaining, we aim to bend the curve of
General Manager, diabetes and in doing so, we believe, the government
Roche Diabetes Care will remain a key stakeholder in all of this. The
India, Mumbai government has made Non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) a key area of emphasis. Within NCDs they
Roche Diabetes Care India, a pioneer in have made diabetes a key area of focus. So the
the development of diabetes management government is working very closely when it comes
systems and services, has appointed to understanding the comorbidities and with India
executive from Novo Nordisk, Omar Sherief being the diabetes capital there is a strong amount
Mohammad as the new General Manager for of government spending. There are too many things
its India business. He assumed his new role to address around the patient today for any one
with effect from September 23, 2019 and is also company to do alone and hence partnerships with
serving as a member of the Roche Diabetes Care likeminded industry partners will be crucial as well to
Asia Pacific Leadership Team. Soon after his bring about the change. We are looking at all things
appointment, BioSpectrum interacted with him, public-private, private-private partnerships, and we
to find out more about his plans for the company feel that we have assets that can add value. It will take
towards addressing the burden of diabetes. data to convince people and we would like to partner
Edited Excerpts; with ministry of health, health care associations,
and partners from the industry in building that data.
What new strategy is in store for driving The data will help create the burning platform for
development of integrated diabetes the burden of diabetes with regards to complications
management solutions? associated with the condition. It will also call for
Our philosophy revolves around the patient. We action to take control of diabetes with initiatives
have a 1000 days ambition to 100 years of the around screening of people to make sure diagnosis
discovery of insulin. Indiabetes: India and Diabetes increases. It will then of course create access to
are synonymous and the biggest issue is that there care to ensure people have the right treatment.
are 73 million people with diabetes in the country We have also established centres of excellence
and only 50 per cent of them are diagnosed. Out at certain diabetes institutes, including within
of these only 50 per cent have access to treatment. government spaces, to be able to help with capability
Therefore, the number of cases treated is less than 10 development.
per cent. Thus we will focus on breaking the rule of
halves in diabetes by ensuring we are able to not only How do you foresee the growth of precision
diagnose diabetes earlier but also bring access to care diabetes in India? What are the current
for people with diabetes for which we will invest in challenges facing this area? How do you
partnerships to answer the question of how to solve intend to address those?
the bigger problem which is at the patient level. We Precision diabetes care is the need of the hour.
believe, if we control the problem for the patient and It simply means customization of the healthcare
the peer and the care giver, which is the healthcare practice and individualization of patient needs
professional, we will be able to bend the curve of from onset of diabetes whether it be lifestyle
diabetes. modifications to treatment interventions. With the
help of medical practices, testing and diagnostic
procedures, decisions and treatments are tailored
to patient’s needs. The challenge simply lies in the
implementation of the same due to paucity of time
given the huge burden of diabetes. Only 50 per

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 35

cent of the people with education and raise awareness about diabetes
diabetes know that they and iPDM (Integrated Personalised Diabetes
have diabetes and out Management), a new model of diabetes treatment.
of that only 50 per cent
get access to care and 3.  Impacting controllable incidence of
this is the rule of halve diabetes: We do some pilots where we do the
that we need to break screening and we bring out the prevalence where
by getting more people we possibly train the workers under the guidelines
diagnosed earlier, to which have been published by the state government
have better access to of UP for Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and
treatment and further the treatment of such patients begin and then we
improve control in do another dip-stick in 3 to 4 months in GDM and
diabetes. For achieving we are able to show that by screening and such an
this, we of course will effective programme we have been able to limit or
need to foster public how effective the control was for such patients.
private partnerships
(PPP), establish centers 4.  Corporate partnerships: Towards the
of excellence to educate ambition of making India Diabetes Care Capital, if
primary care to practice you look at the quantum of work that needs to be
precision diabetes care. done we would find ourselves inadequate if we had
to do it alone. Market size wise, blood glucose meters
How has been the growth for the company (BGM) is only 10 per cent of the total diabetes care
last year, and what are the expectations from market. When we look at the objectives of partners
FY19-20? like insulin manufacturers, we find that there are
We have had double-digit growth for the last several always options of synergies available. So if we talk
years. Our attempt is to continue to outpace market about a proper diabetes management of a patient
growth in this category. We aim to grow continuously who is on insulin, it is in the interest of both the
and rapidly in this sector to bring true relief to insulin manufacturing company and us. If people
patients and hopefully in the coming months, we can with diabetes are able to manage it well, they will
talk patient numbers and how many lives we have have better clinical outcomes. So in that quest we
been able to impact and to translate that into growth. have approached both pharma companies and
That is the story for our future. The ambition that insulin manufacturing companies with two primary
we have set for ourselves as a part of the 1000 days objectives – a. To expand our reach and access, b. To
challenge is to make India the Diabetes Care Capital reach out to the patients on insulin.
and not the Diabetes Capital of the world.
Dr Manbeena Chawla
How do you envision India as the Diabetes [email protected]
Care Capital of the world?
With patients at the core, and our people as the
strength, we have embarked on this journey. We have
250 employees, which is a collective experience of
over 2000 years and the route that we have taken is
to leverage the strengths of this diverse and energetic
workforce, coupled with technology from Roche.
Few areas that we are venturing into as a part of the
ambition are as follows:

1.  Access to innovation: by providing devices
which come with advanced accuracy and effortless
connectivity with applications like Mysugr for
patient benefit and also empowering the health care
professionals to make informed decisions.

2.  Capability building and centres of
excellence: We are building capability across the
country for health care professionals by tying up
with specialised diabetes centers which will deepen

36 SPEAKING WITH BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

“There is urgent need to put in
place rational pricing mechanism
for treatments under PMJAY”

« healthcare innovations to engage with Government
programmes (including Ayushman Bharat), access
Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, private industry support, funding from private capital
President, NATHEALTH and other funders and mentorship from clinical,
(Healthcare Federation technology and business experts.
of India), New Delhi
How are you planning to take this collaboration
To highlight the critical role of innovations in forward?
achieving the goal of Universal Health Coverage Under the agreement, the industry partners within the
through programmes like Ayushman Bharat- NATHEALTH network would participate in piloting,
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), its testing, adopting and scaling innovations and also
implementing agency National Health Authority create Go-to-market support across Tier I, II and III
(NHA) recently signed Memorandum of Understanding cities, and rural areas. Dialogue about how to create
(MoU) with NATHEALTH. The aim of this strategic an enabling regulatory framework for innovation is yet
partnership is to enable a seamless pathway that another critical component of the partnership.
streamlines all innovations ensuring that it scales
and increases the efficacy of PM-JAY service delivery. Identifying and curating the best healthcare
Further, this collaboration provides an industry innovations and start-ups from India is one of the
interface for testing innovations; providing mentorship objective of this MoU. How are you planning to
and creating channels for facilitating support required take this forward?
for scaling these innovations. Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, The partnership will aim to create open platforms such
President, NATHEALTH (Healthcare Federation of as universities, start-up incubators and accelerators,
India) in an interaction with BioSpectrum talks about private industries, investors (private capital, grant-
NATHEALTH’s role in this partnership and more. giving organizations and foundations) that will enable

Can you throw some light on the recently signed Objectives of joint partnership
MoU between NHA and NATHEALTH? between NHA & NATHEALTH
NATHEALTH has signed MoU with National
Health Authority (NHA) to engage with government ● Identifying and curating the best healthcare
programmes such as Ayushman Bharat for accessing innovations and start-ups from India.
private industry support, funding from private capital
and other funders and mentorship from clinical, ● Assessing healthcare innovations through
technology and business experts. varied perspectives such as clinical, technical,
impact, sustainability and scalability.
What is the objective behind this partnership?
The main objective of the Joint Initiative is to provide ● Enabling an ecosystem for healthcare
and enable a healthcare innovation ecosystem that innovations to engage with Ayushman Bharat
supports Indian healthcare innovations to grow. We will PM-JAY.
be assessing healthcare innovations from perspectives
such as clinical, technical, impact, sustainability and ● Enabling an ecosystem for the industry
scalability. The joint initiative also aims at enabling partners within the NATHEALTH network
to participate in piloting,testing, adopting,
funding and scaling innovations.

● Providing Go-to-market support across Tier I,
II and III cities, and rural areas.

● Starting a dialogue on ‘how to create
an enabling regulatory framework for
mainstreaming innovation’.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPEAKING WITH 37

“HEALTH SECTOR COMPRISES OF LARGE NUMBER OF STARTUPS IN THE NEW BUSINESSES SEGMENT.
NATHEALTH WILL FACILITATE SUCH LINKAGES WITH INDUSTRY AND INVESTORS. IN THIS REGARD, WE HAVE
ESTABLISHED ACCELERATOR PROGRAM THAT SUPPORTS STARTUPS TO GROW AND TO COLLABORATE
BETTER WITH GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY. THE INITIATIVE WILL BE SUPPORTED BY OUR MEMBERS,
NETWORKS, AND BRAND. SUCH ACCELERATOR PROGRAMS WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO CREATE A ROBUST
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM FOR THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR AND INNOVATION WOULD PROVIDE NEW MOMENTUM
IN TERMS OF CLINICAL OUTCOMES, TRANSPARENCY, PATIENT SAFETY, SUPPLY-CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND
STANDARDIZATION OF POPULATION HEALTH SERVICES WITH THE HELP OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES.’’

engagement between different types of innovation AB/PMJAY is a truly a game changing universal health
organizations. Health sector comprises of large number care scheme and also the largest state-run Health
of startups in the new businesses segment. NATHEALTH Insurance cover. NATHEALTH has been engaging with
will facilitate such linkages with industry and investors. the government to come up with a broader participation
In this regard, we have established accelerator program of this scheme by the private sector especially in
that supports startups to grow and to collaborate better the underserved areas and is working on ways and
with Government and industry. The initiative will be means of bridging this gap. Along with higher public
supported by our members, networks, and brand. Such and private spending in the Indian healthcare sector,
accelerator programs would go a long way to create a there is urgent need to put in place a rational pricing
robust startup ecosystem for the healthcare sector and mechanism for treatments under PMJAY so that the
innovation would provide new momentum in terms of target population are able to access quality healthcare
clinical outcomes, transparency, patient safety, supply- in an affordable manner and insurers (both public and
chain management and standardization of population private) find it sustainable from their business point of
health services with the help of new technologies. view.

Who will be responsible for the funding part? What is the long-term implication of Ayushman
According to a NATHEALTH-PWC Report, since Bharat? How do you see it changing the healthcare
January 2010, over 110 private equity (PE) and Venture landscape in the country?
Capital (VC) investors have an investment in healthcare In the long term, the successful implementation of
delivery space. The interest of PE & VC continues with AB/PMJAY will pivot on several factors including Pan
multiple healthcare entities raised funds in 2017 as well India implementation with state level support and
and 2018 also witnessed investment interest in home collaborative partnerships from the private sector. This
healthcare space. Hence, through this partnership we will help government achieve a strong delivery network
aim at providing growth support to healthcare startups for providing quality care at affordable pricing. Health
and syndicate investment opportunities from key and wellness centers will be the beacons of providing
stakeholders. quality healthcare in remote parts of the country. The
government aims to expand the basket of services to
On what parameters you are going to identify include screening for non-communicable diseases,
these start-ups & innovations? like diabetes and common cancers, in addition to
Innovative new technologies and models are a reproductive, maternal and child health interventions.
fundamental requisite for truly transforming how Drugs and diagnostics will also be provided free of cost
healthcare is delivered, accessed and financed in India at these centers. Well-functioning Health and Wellness
and across the world. Our vision is for an innovation Centres can eventually play the role of effective gate-
ecosystem and we invite best health tech startups keepers, thereby ensuring that only patients requiring
in India and assist them to scale up nationally and advanced investigation or treatment proceed to the
internationally. We also invite stakeholders from secondary and tertiary levels of the health system.
industry and capital markets to join us in supporting Our country has a long way to go in expanding access
healthcare innovators to scale up. to quality health services for all however with robust
monitoring, evaluation and research systems, we can
Is ‘Ayushman Bharat’ going in the right direction? achieve this goal.
Do you think that there are still some gaps with
this government scheme? Kalyani Sharma
[email protected]

38 SCIENCE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

IGIB develops new RGCB, NEIST design
variant of gene editing tool novel nanomolecule
against cancer
Scientists at Delhi-based anemia. One of the widely
Institute of Genomics used Cas9 enzyme in gene Researchers at Rajiv Gandhi
and Integrative Biology editing is Streptococcus Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB),
(IGIB) have developed a pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) Thiruvananthapuram, and CSIR-North East
new variant of currently and its engineered variants. Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-
popular gene editing tool, They have been harnessed NEIST), Jorhat in Assam, have developed a
CRISPR-Cas9, and have for several gene-editing new molecule that could potentially be used
shown that this variant can applications across different as a photosensitiser in a non-invasive cancer
increase precision in editing platforms, but concerns treatment known as photodynamic therapy.
genome while avoiding remain regarding their The major challenge of photodynamic
unintended changes in off-targeting at multiple therapy lies in developing photosensitisers
DNA. The researchers have locations across the that have increased solubility in biological
also shown that this type of genome. To overcome media. The team has developed zinc-based
gene editing can be used to these problems, Indian picolyl porphyrin nano-molecule that
correct sickle cell anemia, researchers used another shows promising results. Preliminary tests
a genetic blood disorder. naturally occurring Cas9 conducted on breast cancer cells indicate
The experiments have been from a bacteria called its potential as an effective photosensitiser
done in human-derived cells Francisella novicida, and molecule. They have developed the new
from patients of sickle cell gathered some success. molecule by inserting zinc ions into a
nanostructure made of two other molecules
called picolylamine and porphyrin.

JMI invents sensor to detect drug-resistant leukaemia

A team of researchers at the step to converting the carbon
Delhi based Jamia Millia Islamia nanotubes into a sensor, the
has invented a highly sensitive researchers functionalised the
carbon nanotube-based sensor nanotubes. Nanotubes that
capable of detecting multidrug- are functionalised have better
resistant myeloid leukaemia ability to bind to a leukaemia
cells even when present at very antibody, which in turn binds
low concentration of 10 cells to the leukaemia cells present
per ml. Using chemical vapour in the sample. Compared with
deposition technique, the team drug-sensitive leukemic cells,
from the Centre for Nanoscience multidrug-resistant leukaemia
and Nanotechnology produced cells have better ability to bind
vertically aligned multi-walled to the antibody found on the
carbon nanotubes. As a first nanotubes.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SCIENCE NEWS 39

IIT-Kgp pitches IIT brings AI device
solution to to measure heart health
track Hb levels
A team of graduates from the Indian Institute of Technology
Researchers at the Indian Institute (IIT), has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered
of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT- Kgp) sensor sheet that
have devised a low cost test to measure can be put under
haemoglobin (Hb) levels. Through a the mattress
series of chemical reactions, haemoglobin to detect
helps break down hydrogen peroxide to indicators such
produce oxygen. According to its design, as heart health,
the device triggers just these reasons to respiration,
produce oxygen, which is made to react sleep, and stress
with o-toluidine to produce a bluish green with medical-
substance. This substance absorbs light grade accuracy.
proportionally to its amount, so the more The device works
there is, the darker it will appear. Using on a technology known as Ballistocardiography (BCG), which
this indicator, the device can estimate involves measurement of the movement of the heart. BCG can
the amount of haemoglobin in the blood. be extended to find movement, breathing and snoring. The
Additionally, the device is expected to device is powered by AI engine that conducts risk analysis on
be able to interpret data from the bluish an individual’s health data to note the slightest of deviations
green substance through an app that can from their healthy baselines and detect any early signs of
be installed on a smartphone, instead of health deterioration. The device has successfully predicted
resorting to larger, more expensive light- early health deterioration in conditions ranging from fever to
measuring devices. heart failure, even before the symptoms appear.

40 ACADEMIA NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Advancells enters into partnership with MRIIRS

Noida based stem cell therapy in Healthcare and Biotechnology It will also be instrumental
provider Advancells and in area for betterment of mankind. in deepening the market
Manav Rachna International insights for stem cell therapy,
Institute of Research with focus on optimizing
and Studies (MRIIRS), deliverables from channel
Faridabad have announced members. Advancells is
a research partnership aiming at organizing joint
and an exclusive license international conferences,
agreement to promote symposia, and workshops
industry-academia exchange for students and developing
between the two entities. other mutually beneficial
This collaboration will programmes like skill-
benefit students, researchers oriented certificate courses
and the wider community in Stem Cell Technology for both
strengthening the research the parties in due course of time.

JNU, ICMR ink MGMCRI to
MoU for education, boost quality of
research collaboration healthcare services

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has Puducherry based Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and
signed a Memorandum of Understanding Research Institute (MGMCRI), a constituent College of
(MoU) with Indian Council of Medical Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (SBV), has signed a Memorandum
Research (ICMR) for institutional of Understanding (MoU) with the Agra-based Product
collaboration in education and research. and Process Development Centre, under the Ministry
The main objectives of the MoU are to of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on adopting
promote and enhance the interaction and Lean Six Sigma principles to boost quality and efficiency
collaboration between faculty, staff and of healthcare services. Lean Six Sigma principles are
students of JNU with ICMR institutions used in a wide array of industries to improve the process
through visits and exchange programmes, efficiency by eliminating waste and reducing defects. In the
joint academic and research programmes. healthcare industry, defects not only affect revenue and
MoU is aimed at enhancing the technological customer satisfaction, they can even mean the difference
collaboration in the areas of national between life and death. Quality initiatives in healthcare
interest. The cooperation will focus on system is becoming mandatory. According to MGMCRI,
faculty and student exchange programmes, this memorandum would pave the way in ensuring quality
increasing the opportunities for interaction in services offered at all the constituent units of SBV.
among members of faculty and students
between Schools/Centres of JNU and ICMR
institutions as well as creating Visiting/
Adjunct Faculty positions and short visits.

BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com SPONSORED CONTENT 41

Single-Use Classical Stirred Tank
Bioreactors, an Ideal design for Scalability

Deepak Vengovan, Deepak leads a team of Application
Technical Manager- Specialists and supports various single
Cell Culture Technology, use and multiuse upstream projects. He
Sartorius Stedim India has hands on experience of working on
development of biosimilar process and
also specializes in media evaluation,
optimization and scale up.

Single-use bioreactors Scale up from ambr® to BIOSTAT® STR bioreactor, volumes ranging from 250 mL to 2,000L.
have been gradually
established in modern development and scale-up to ensure straightforward scale-up to
biopharmaceutical safe and robust commercial 2,000 L.
processes. This adoption is processes. Furthermore, they
directly linked to their unique ability enable users to implement their The excellent performance
to enhance flexibility and reduce existing knowledge, especially with characteristics make the single-
investment and operational costs. platform processes, into production use ambr® 250, UniVessel® SU,
processes of new drugs and to set- and BIOSTAT® STR bioreactors
Typically, processes are up experiments in a way that can ideal for mammalian cell culture
established and optimized in shorten development timelines. — even for very demanding, high
stirred-tank benchtop bioreactor However, many commercially cell‑density or microcarrier‑based
systems. One challenge during the available single-use bioreactors processes. Low‑shear agitation with
development of a robust cell culture differ from this gold standard. Vessel three-blade segment impellers
process is straightforward scale-up design, stirrer design and gassing provides homogeneous mixing.
to the final production scale. This is strategy especially may differ from With a non-particle shedding
especially critical when using less- the classical stirred-tank design microsparger, operators can now
characterized bioreactor designs principles, this may result in issues reach oxygen transfer rates of up
that deviate from the well-known with consistency and geometrical to 40 h–1 at 2,000 L scale. These
and understood classical stirred-tank similarity across scales. So the scale- systems make cell culture operations
principle. up exercise might be complicated more flexible, cost-effective and
and add risk to the process transfer. less time-consuming. The classical
Scale-up is an important and stirred-tank design allows relying on
potentially time-consuming step Sartorius Stedim Biotech has well-known and established scale-
in the development of industrial developed a range of single-use up criteria such as power input per
processes. It involves much more bioreactors from 250 mL to 2,000 volume or tip speed. In addition, the
than just doing the same at a larger L scale and beyond to facilitate geometrical similarities across all
volume. It requires generation of seamless process transfers to scales facilitate successful scale up
strong process understanding at existing production facilities. These and scale down as well as process
different scales to ensure consistent designs are entirely based on proven transfer, thus de-risking scale-up and
quality and titer throughout the stirred‑tank bioreactor principles and process transfers significantly.
scale-up from pre-clinical trials to
commercial production.

During the past 30 years,
stainless-steel stirred-tank
bioreactors have evolved as the
gold standard, especially as a
result of their straightforward
scale-up. Multiple times, their
well‑understood design principles
have proven successful in

42 SUPPLIERS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Qiagen, Illumina accelerate NGS adoption

Illumina, Inc. and QIAGEN genomic profiling of tumor

N.V. have announced a 15- samples in immunotherapy.

year partnership intended Illumina and QIAGEN will

to broaden the availability cooperate to commercialize

and use of next-generation a menu of clinically validated

sequencing NGS-based workflows that combine

in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) QIAGEN’s proprietary

kits, including companion content and bioinformatics

diagnostics, for patient solutions. The partnership

management. The agreement will initially focus on

grants QIAGEN non- commercializing oncology

exclusive rights to develop IVD kits to support patient

and globally commercialize management and may expand

IVD kits to be used together with Both partners are also exploring in the future to include additional
opportunities for QIAGEN to
Illumina’s MiSeq Dx and NextSeq develop and market companion clinical diagnostic fields, such as
diagnostics based on Illumina’s
550Dx Systems. The agreement TruSight Oncology (TSO) assays cardiology, hereditary diseases,
that enable comprehensive
also includes rights for expansion infectious diseases, as well as

of the partnership on future inflammatory and autoimmune

Illumina diagnostic (Dx) systems. diseases.

Merck acquires acoustic GE Healthcare,
Theragnostics team up
technology developer for novel imaging agent

Merck, a leading science and technology company, GE Healthcare and Theragnostics have entered
has announced it has acquired FloDesign Sonics into a global commercial partnership for a new
of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, USA, developer Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA) PET/
of a unique acoustic cell processing platform for CT imaging agent. Theragnostics will lead the
the industrialization of cell and gene therapy development of the tracer, GalliProst, while GE
manufacturing. Merck is the first company Healthcare will lead all pre-approval commercial
to make acoustic technology available for cell preparations and as and when approval is
therapy manufacturing. Acoustic cell processing received, all
is a disruptive technology that allows for the subsequent
manipulation of cells with ultrasonic waves. commercial
FloDesign Sonics’ acoustic cell processing platform and
allows enhanced cell washing and concentration distribution
for manufacturing cell therapies. The acquisition activities.
is a strategic fit for Merck, strengthening the Theragnostics
ability alongside pharmaceutical manufacturers to has reported
advance cell-based therapies to patients. data from a
phase two
clinical study
which met its primary and secondary endpoints,
demonstrating that one third of newly diagnosed
prostate cancer patients - and over 50 per cent of
patients with biochemically recurrent disease -
had their treatment plans modified as a result of a
GalliProst scan. The change in patient management
increased to 75 per cent in a post-radical
radiotherapy setting.

Company Number: U74999KA2017FTC107659

44 SUPPLIERS NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

Waters introduces new Eurofins,
range of TA instruments UgenTec to
employ AI for
Waters Corporation has introduced the new TA Instruments MSF16 molecular
Multi-Specimen Fatigue Instrument. The MSF16 extends the capability testing
of accelerated cyclic testing by loading 16 specimens
simultaneously, rapidly delivering insights into the Eurofins GeneScan
failure limits of materials, components and products Technologies GmbH and
under repeated loading. The durability of materials UgenTec have announced
and their construction is critical for the longevity a collaboration on the
of products that experience repetitive forces. development of assay
From aircraft and automobiles to medical devices, plugins for Eurofins
understanding durability can be lifesaving. Fatigue GeneScan Technologies’
testing of component materials or final assemblies portfolio of molecular
involves repetitive mechanical loading (stress and biology kits on UgenTec’s
strains) that measure when and how they fail. real-time PCR analysis
Failure quantification requires ten to one hundred software platform,
specimens be tested for millions, even hundreds FastFinder. FastFinder
of millions of cycles. TA’s MSF16 instrument, analysis is a software
equipped with industry leading motor technology module that uses artificial
and 16-sample capacity, significantly accelerates intelligence (AI) to
fatigue analysis and provides users a competitive edge by reducing their support the analysis and
time-to-market. interpretation of qPCR data.
Trained on over a billion
Agilent introduces data points across hundreds
Intelligent LC/MS in India of assays, FastFinder takes
any assay on any common
Agilent Technologies Inc. has iQ incorporates intelligent PCR device and minimizes
introduced a new, self-aware instrument health monitoring, hands-on time. It allows
mass detector into their diagnostic companies to
comprehensive LC/MS which is integrated into the standardize the way their
portfolio for the Indian system. Embedded sensors assay is used in the field or
market. The new Agilent by their service laboratories,
InfinityLab LC/ gather and display data making interpretation
MSD iQ System allowing a quick assessment operator-independent and
incorporates reducing time-to-result. In
‘designed-in’ smart of the system’s readiness, the collaboration, UgenTec
features, software, status, and configuration. will develop artificially
and hardware The instrument includes intelligent software
developed features such as a system components for Eurofins
specifically for suitability check that uses GeneScan Technologies’
chemists and a test mixture designed assays, called assay plugins,
chromatographers which are deployed into the
who will benefit to permit an overall FastFinder analysis software
from the intuitive assessment of the whole used in testing labs.
design and liquid chromatography-
greater level of mass spectrometry (LC/
detail generated MS) system before the
by a mass selective collection of data. An
detector. The early maintenance
InfinityLab feedback feature allows
LC/MSD
lab managers to plan
routine maintenance
on the lab’s schedule
resulting in a focus on
overall productivity.



46 PEOPLE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

IPA announces Lupin
Dr Satish Reddy as President appoints
Sreeji
Satish Reddy, Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Gopinathan
Laboratories has been appointed as President as CIO
of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA)
for 2019-2021. As an active member of major Lupin has announced
industry associations and governmental the appointment of
panels, Reddy played a key role in shaping Sreeji Gopinathan
as Chief Information
policies concerning the pharmaceutical Officer (CIO). He will
sector as well as the economy, lead the IT function
such as policy formulation on for Lupin globally,
India’s patent law, drug pricing based in Mumbai.
and important amendments to Gopinathan brings to
the Drugs & Cosmetics Act. Lupin over 20 years
He was a past president of of significant domain
IPA (2013-2015), a member expertise and global
of the Drugs Technical experience. Most
Advisory Board of India, recently, he was with
the Chairman of the Reckitt Benckiser.
Andhra Pradesh Chapter of Prior to that, he was
the Confederation of Indian associated with Philips,
Industries (CII) and head of Procter & Gamble,
its National Committee on ISRO and Asea Brown
Pharmaceuticals. Boveri. Gopinathan
holds a Master’s
OPPI re-elects A. degree in Business
Vaidheesh as President Administration from
the University of
The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of Edinburgh, UK and
India (OPPI), which represents the research-based B. Tech (Applied
pharmaceutical companies, announced the newly Electronics and
elected Board of Directors for 2019-20 at its statutory Instrumentation)
AGM held recently. A. Vaidheesh, Vice President, from the University of
South Asia & Managing Director, GlaxoSmithKline Kerala.
Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has been re-elected as the
President for OPPI, for the third year. Vaidheesh has
a strong track record of leadership development and
building leading brands/franchises across various
categories and multi-cultural locations in
Asia-pacific region. In December 2016,
Vaidheesh was recognised as one of
the Most Influential Leaders of Asia by
Economic Times at the Asian Business
Leaders Conclave held in Malaysia. He
is a Bachelor of Physics, from Madras
University and has done his Master’s
Degree in Marketing Management from
Bombay University. He is an Honorary
Fellow of The Association of Minimal
Access Surgeons of India and is a certified
Process Excellence Black Belt.

New Vision For Smart Farming

22– 25 November 2019

Reshimbagh Ground, Nagpur, Maharashtra

Central India’s Largest Agri Summit

WORKSHOPS 23 - 25 November Time : 11.00 am Chief Patron

 More than 25 Workshops on various subjects Organic
Farming, Turmeric & Ginger production & processing,
Poultr y. Bamboo Production, Sugarcane production,
Dairy, Orange production & Processing, Goat Farming
 Discussion sessions with agricultural experts Inspiring
success stories of farmers

NATIONAL AGRI EXPO 22 - 25 November 2019 Shri Nitin Gadkari

 Producers distributors, and consumers under one roof. Hon'ble Minister for Road Transport, Highways,
Participation of marketing boards, banks and insurance Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India
companies as well.  Stalls of Central & State Government
departments displaying govt. schemes  A rare chance to see Agristartup, Innovation Pavilion
Farm machinery, Farm equipment, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides
and agri services with live demonstration. Broad scale of Discount for MSME registered units
participation from multinational companies to small scale
industries, self-help groups and voluntary organizations. Special Animal Husbandry Pavilion

CONFERENCES Agriculture and Food Processing Only Few Stalls Available

(with the help of MSME)

Dairy Development & Milk Processing

Agrovision Secretariat : Nagpur : 97647 96709 Ph: 0712-2544 929 I Pune : 99232 02884 Ph: 020-2729 1769 I Delhi : 7838323127 Ph : 011-4354 2737
Email : [email protected] / [email protected] Follow /@agrovisionindia
www.agrovisionindia.in

Organised By Supported By

Ministry of Agriculture & Ministry of Micro, Small &
Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India

48 PEOPLE NEWS BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

3 scientists share ICGEB
medicine Nobel 2019
scientist wins
The Nobel Prize 2019 for Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to
three scientists for discovery of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen. SSB award
William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza have
been jointly awarded the Nobel for their work of identifying molecular Dr Dhiraj Kumar from the
machinery that regulates the activity of genes in response to varying International Centre for
levels of oxygen. The fundamental importance of oxygen has been Genetic Engineering and
understood for centuries, but how cells adapt to changes in oxygen levels Biotechnology (ICGEB),
has long been unknown. This year’s Nobel Prize awarded work reveals New Delhi, has been
the molecular mechanisms that underlie how cells adapt to variations in awarded the Shanti Swarup
oxygen supply. The discoveries made by the three men have fundamental Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize
importance for physiology and have paved the way for promising new in the Medical Sciences
strategies to fight anemia, cancer and many other diseases. category. He is one of the 12
scientists across the country
STBI ropes in to have been conferred
Dr Jayashankar Das as Director with the prestigious award
for 2019. Dr Kumar’s work
Savli Technology Business Incubator (STBI), Vadodara is an autonomous involves understanding the
Society under Department of Science and Technology, Government host-pathogen reactions in
of Gujarat and is supported by BIRAC, NSTEDB, DST and state tuberculosis bacteria, design
of biological networks and
Government. Recently, Dr Jayashankar Das signalling events. The Shanti
has been appointed as Director of STBI. He Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
is a genomic scientist and technocrat served for Science and Technology
as Joint Director to Gujarat Biotechnology is a prestigious honour
Research Centre, Joint Director to Gujarat and an annual award in
State Biotechnology Mission, Scientist at science and technology in
DBT-Institute of Bioresources & Sustainable India. Awarded by CSIR, it
Development. His idea is to accelerate is named after its founder
the present ecosystem via attracting more Director Dr Shanti Swarup
impactful and low cost innovation which Bhatnagar. The award
can help to solve the societal challenges. recognises outstanding
Also, he has mentioned that at present contributions in the field of
Incubators need to focus on the modalities to overcome challenges on Biological Sciences, Physical
not only nurturing emerging ventures but also commercialization of new Sciences, Mathematical
technologies along with establishment of strong linkages with potential Sciences, Chemical Sciences,
stakeholders in the sector of Biotechnology and Life Sciences in India. Engineering Sciences,
Medical Sciences and Earth,
Atmosphere, Ocean and
Planetary Sciences.



50 BIO EVENT BIOSPECTRUM | NOVEMBER 2019 | www.biospectrumindia.com

13TH CONFERENCE OF CCHFW

“Increase spending on healthcare to
achieve NHP 2017 goal of 2.5% GDP”

Urging the participating Health Ministers from The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW),
states/UTs to increase healthcare spending to Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr Harsh Vardhan
a minimum 8 per cent of their state budget so (centre) at the inauguration of the 13th Conference of the
as to meet the goals of healthcare spending of National Central Council of Health & Family Welfare (CCHFW), in New
Health Policy (NHP) 2017- 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2025, Delhi on October 10, 2019. Seen in picture from L-R ; Preeti
Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Sudan, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Ashwini
Vardhan said “From the first CCHFW meeting till now, Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family
we together have achieved several health milestones, Welfare, Dr V.K. Paul, Member NITI Aayog, and Dr Sanjay
especially India being certified Polio-free. This has Tyagi, Director General of Health Services (DGHS), MoHFW.
been possible because of our collaborative efforts. If all
Health Ministers come together for a cause, no task can Dr Vinod K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog under
be impossible.” scored two priority areas for the public health sector.
“First is increasing the health budgets by the Centre
He was inaugurating the 13th Conference of and the States/UTs, and second in enhancing the
the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare health infrastructure. The NHP 2017 commitment
(CCHFW), in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, to increasing the health budget cannot be achieved
MoS (HFW), Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, without states contribution”, he stated. He added that
Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), and Health Ministers there is a need to engage more with the private sector
from 13 states, on October 10 in New Delhi. for augmenting the efforts of the public sector to bring
in equity to increase the number of beds and hospitals
Speaking at the event, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated to meet the global standards of health infrastructure.
that the purpose of the CCHFW meeting is to build
a consensus on the national health priorities i.e. At the inaugural session, Dr Harsh Vardhan along
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through Ayushman with the other Ministers launched a new initiative –
Bharat, eliminating TB and other priority agenda ‘Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN)’ for Zero
such as strengthen medical infrastructure. This can be Preventable Maternal and Newborn Deaths, its website
achieved by collective increase in healthcare spending and the grievance redressal portal. As October 10 is also
by the States/UTs to meet the goals of healthcare the World Sight day, Dr Harsh Vardhan released the
spending of National Health Policy 2017- 2.5 per cent Report on National Diabetes & Diabetic Retinopathy
of GDP by 2025. Survey India 2015-19 and Report on National Blindness
& Visual Impairment Survey India 2015-19 prepared
“This is the first time that a government is so with the support of AIIMS, New Delhi. In addition,
committed to healthcare and health care is on the along with other dignitaries, he also unveiled two info-
top agenda. This is clearly visible from the passionate leaflets on Suicide Prevention to mark the World Mental
address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Health Day. Additionally, he released Guidelines on
recently concluded UN General Assembly where he Drugs and Diagnostic Service Initiative; Guidelines for
stressed upon four pillars of healthcare, which included Biomedical Equipment Management & Maintenance
universal health coverage; mission mode interventions; Program; and the Guidelines for Peritoneal Dialysis
quality and accessible affordable healthcare services; under Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Program.
and also adequate infrastructure. Dr Harsh Vardhan
further stated “Health needs to become a social Also present were Dr Sanjay Tyagi, DGHS,
movement in every State & UT and the Eat Right and MoHFW; Health Secretaries from various States and
Fit India movements need to be taken up by States senior officers of MoHFW, ICMR, NITI Aayog and
& UTs in a synergized manner, to ensure a healthy & representatives from various Development Partners.
robust India”.

Speaking at the occasion, Preeti Sudan, Secretary
(HFW) said that the health ministry is dedicated to the
cause of effective, affordable, quality and accessible
healthcare. She added that the CCHFW is integral to
achievement of health goals of the country, “Without
the political leadership and commitment of the States
& UTs, healthcare cannot be effective”, she added.