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NGO holds Sixth Biofuels conference
Winrock International India (WII), a New Delhi-based NGO, working in the areas of clean and renewable energy, natural resources management and climate change, organized the sixth International Biofuels Conference in New Delhi.
Aiming to map the progress, technological developments and innovations in the biofuels sector, the conference witnessed presentations by subject experts from both within India and abroad. From policy perspectives to debating the promotion of algal biodiesel or discussing life cycle analysis (LCA) and sustainability, several key issues were covered.
The conference was inaugurated by Debashish Majumdar, CMD, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited, who in his inaugural address said that one of the factors for the success in the development of renewable energy for the power sector would be the development of a strong policy that also encourages investment, especially in the private sector.
The conference agreed that advances in genetics, biotechnology processes, chemical and engineering are leading to new concepts for converting renewable biomass to valuable fuels and other products. The conference also agreed that LCA can be a useful tool for the consideration of environmental aspects of sustainability, and the development of a data model would ensure that every producer of biofuels does not have to commission a full scale LCA study.
It was repeatedly emphasized that a road map for alternative fuel use for India such that the product is available on a sustainable basis to enable the auto industry to come out with optimized models. It was also felt the biodiesel industry can be much more attractive if the by-products of the biodiesel industry are effectively utilized, through several commercial technologies that are already available.
As large scale plantations of Jatropha are in existence in several Indian states, it was a positive sign that would lead to the availability of raw material for future processing plants. The future availability of lingo cellulosic biomass, algal biodiesel and other renewable fuels could be expected to achieve breakthroughs in the near future.
The final session, a panel discussion, was chaired by V Subramanian, former Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, with panelist Dr HL Sharma, director biofuels, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, who mentioned that the long awaited National Biofuels Policy for India was with the cabinet for clearance and would be adopted soon. Dilip Chenoy, director general, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers; Dr Veena Joshi, team leader, Rural Energy and Housing, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and AK Goel, general manager, PCRA, were the other panelists who agreed that sustainability was a key issue that had to be addressed.
In his concluding remarks, Dr Kinsuk Mitra, president, Winrock International India, said, “The Sixth International Biofuels Conference, has raised the bar substantially in the quality of the presentations, the enthusiasm of the participants and the sheer extent of information sharing that has taken place.”

Biocon, Bristol-Myers Squibb open R&D facility
Syngene International, a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company have opening of a fully dedicated research and development facility for Bristol-Myers Squibb in Biocon Park, Bangalore.
The 2 lakh square-foot facility at Biocon Park is dedicated to helping advance Bristol-Myers Squibb's work in discovery and early drug development, and is currently occupied by 270 researchers. Construction on the facility began in March 2007, when Bristol-Myers Squibb and Biocon entered into an agreement to develop integrated drug discovery and development capabilities at Syngene.
The facility will house 360 researchers by the end of the year and could accommodate as many as 450 employees in the future. Work at the facility will span the drug discovery and development process from initial hit to lead optimization to early pharmaceutical development to clinical nomination to phase-I and phase-II clinical studies. The building of this facility signals Bristol-Myers Squibb's commitment to R&D in Asia.
“We are pleased to build upon our more-than 10 year relationship with Biocon with the completion of this dedicated R&D facility and the establishment of this integrated R&D center in Asia. The opening of this facility is an integral part of our company's strategy to access top talent around the world and establish a research and development presence in Asia,” said Elliott Sigal, executive vice president, chief scientific officer and president, Research and Development, Bristol-Myers Squibb.
” Syngene's multi-disciplinary skills in synthetic chemistry, process chemistry and molecular biology. have garnered international repute. This collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb is a testimonial to Syngene's global reputation and offers a powerful value-added capability base for Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon.
In addition to expanding its research and development capabilities in India through its relationship with Biocon, Bristol-Myers Squibb has committed to supporting the development of scientific excellence in India. Since 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb has established fellowships supporting doctoral and post-graduate students at four academic institutions in the areas of biology, chemistry, pharmaceutics, drug metabolism, chemical engineering, clinical pharmacology and translational medicine. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Biocon are also exploring public-private educational partnerships with local universities.

India, UNESCO to set up Regional Center for Biotechnology in Faridabad
The Government of India and the UNESCO realizing the need of training and education for generating interdisciplinary human resource relevant to biotechnology, have decided to establish the regional center for research, training and education in biotechnology under the auspices of UNESCO. Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, Kapil Sibal announced the setting up of UNESCO Regional Center for Biotechnology at its first meeting of the Board of Governors held in New Delhi.
The center will come up in Faridabad, Haryana by next year. Interacting with the media on the occasion, Sibal said that the center would be beneficial to all countries in the region including India in developing knowledge-rich highly skilled human resource, harmonization of policies and procedures in biotechnology and indirectly promoting trade. Biotechnology being essentially global, the partnerships are as much within as across countries. The center will create a place from which many such partnerships will emerge. The center will provides a meeting place where innovation, enterprise, and industrial development will germinate.
Dr MK Bhan, secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, said that the primary focus of the UNESCO Regional Center for Biotechnology is to provide high quality human resource of an interdisciplinary nature and in areas of acute shortage. As education and training of world class quality requires a research milieu, the research in the proposed center will also be an interface of multiple disciplines and focused on technology development. He said that the educational programs of the UNESCO center are designed to create opportunities for students to engage in research where they learn the tools by integrating science, engineering and medicine to provide health care solutions for human and animal sector, for agriculture and environment technologies.
Specialized domain-specific programs will also be created in new opportunity areas such as cell and tissue engineering, nanobiotechnology and biosciences, synergy of information technology and advanced biomaterials to create a cadre of highly specialized people who integrate across disciplines. An important focus of expertise building will be regulation, product development, scale up, manufacturing science and bio-entrepreneurship. The center will also provide user friendly opportunities for career development and will also be open to industry for enhancing their skills in specific areas required for career advancement.

Bharat Biotech launches COMVAC5
Bharat Biotech International (BBIL), Hyderabad, has launched COMVAC5, a single shot pentavalent combination vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib). COMVAC5 is safe, effective and an affordable vaccine that offers complete protection against Hib, which is a life-threatening illness in young children.. Hib can cause meningitis and severe pneumonia, leading to three million cases of serious illness and 4 lakh deaths each year in children under five years of age.
Making the announcement Dr Krishna M Ella, chairman and managing director, Bharat Biotech International, said, “The launch of COMVAC5 is a milestone effort from Bharat Biotech. It is an indigenous vaccine that helps to reduce childhood sicknesses and deaths from preventable diseases at affordable cost. With a single injection this vaccine has the ability to protect children against multiple infectious diseases. This pentavalent vaccine demonstrates our commitment to consistently develop, safe and affordable vaccines for the emerging world.”
Combination pentavalent vaccines have been approved by several countries and included in their respective national immunization programs for childhood vaccinations. Combination vaccines come highly recommended by World Health Organization and other global regulatory agencies since they combine five antigens into a single dose, thus eliminating the need for multiple injections to infants. Reduction of injections to infants has proven to reduce the amount of side effects, and reduce the probability of disease transmission through needle contamination.

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