Bangalore to build exclusive Knowledge City

A "Knowledge City" which will house over 7,50,000 people engaged in cutting edge research in high tech areas and life sciences will come up in the suburbs of India's Silicon City Bangalore within 18 months.

"The work on the City will begin on April 1, 2007 and it will be built by some of the world's topmost infrastructure companies. We have shortlisted 18 companies and the contract will be awarded in April," said the head of the local Karnataka government agency that is spearheading the project, MN Vidyashankar.

The $2-billion, 10,000-acre campus of the "Knowledge City" is coming up on the outskirts of Bangalore and the entire land requirement has been acquired for this purpose. The government had used satellite data to identify non-farm and uninhabited land for the project. This is to avoid the controversies surrounding recent Special Economic Zone(SEZ) on the Chinese model coming up in different parts of the country over land acquisition for such industrial project.

Vidyashankar said the campus will have R&D centers of foreign and Indian companies and about 20 percent of them will be from the life sciences sector, including several drug discovery units.

Indian pharma industry set to impact UK in 2007: IndusView

IndusView, the India-focused cross-border advisory firm, has predicted that India's pharmaceutical sector would reach critical mass this year, propelling Indian globalization strategies.

The pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow by more than 13 per cent to $6.5 billion in 2007 and reach a market size of $9.5 billion by 2010, surpassing the growth trends of 9.5 percent recorded over the last five years. The ability to produce high quality, low cost drugs will see India's exports spike in the coming months.

"The progressive trend in this sector is expected to continue due to increased integration with global trade which began with the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in January 2005. India started to recognize global patents and the growing significance of the country in terms of contract research and clinical trials," said Bundeep Singh Rangar, chairman of IndusView.

He further said, "European pharmaceutical services companies will be prime targets for takeovers in the next year. Indian companies have reached critical mass and are set for lift off. And the Indian companies make headlines- grabbing overseas acquisitions to buy customer relationships and intellectual property."

Steps for sustainable growth of biotech industry

"The Indian biotech industry is at the crossroads. On one hand India is being increasing seen as a biomanufacturing hub leveraging the advantages that accrue from operating in this geography. On the other hand, the local industry is rapidly scaling up to participate in the global opportunities," said Utkarsh Palnitkar, industry leader, biotechnology practice, Ernst & Young Pvt Ltd.

Releasing a report on "Indian Biotech industry: 7 steps to glory" at a biotech seminar organized by Chemtech Foundation, he said, "For sustainable growth, the industry needs to look at the seven parameters like broadbasing of products, identified process, opportunities addressed, technology secure, experienced personnel, capital and finally harmonize risk and rewards."

He further said, "The Indian companies have already identified the areas and have shifted their business models to one of alliances from an erstwhile model of competition. The India story has begun and it is by no means over. The success stories of Shantha Biotechnics and Bharat Biotech have pressed other companies to develop recombinant products indigenously. With investments in basic drug discovery, companies are all set to initiate one of the biggest stories the world has even seen."

ICGEB develops diagnostic kits for Hep-C and dengue

The International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, has developed technology for production of unique virus specific designer recombinant antigens for dengue and Hepatitis C virus. So far these antigens had to be imported at exorbitant costs and of unsure quality. The technology has been developed with the financial support from the department of biotechnology (DBT) and transferred to Goa-based Tulip Group of Companies.

Both these diseases are diagnosed based on immunodiagnostic principles wherein antibodies to the corresponding virus (anti-HCV antibodies in case of HCV infection) and (anti-dengue antibodies in case of dengue infection) react in the test with the corresponding recombinant antigens to produce a visually readable signal. Based on the presence and absence of this signal, a patient can be classified as being sero positive or sero negative for the corresponding infections.

The uniqueness of the kit lies in the fact that it will not test false positive. For these tests to be manufactured, it is imperative that recombinant (genetically engineered) dengue antigens and Hepatitis C antigens are available to be employed in the test systems. Early diagnosis of dengue and Hepatitis C infections are critical for screening, patient management and appropriate therapeutic interventions.

Lupin sells IP on Perindopril

Lupin has entered into an agreement with Laboratoires Servier of France for the sale of certain patent applications and other related Intellectual Property (IP) for Perindopril for multiple countries.

"We are really pleased with this agreement with Servier. It goes a long way to demonstrate our research and IP capabilities," said Dr Kamal K Sharma, managing director, Lupin Ltd.

Lupin is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies with strong research focus has state-of-the-art R&D center in Pune. It has a program for developing New Chemical Entities (NCEs). And it is a leading global player in anti-TB, cephalosporins (anti-infectives) and cardiovascular drugs (prils and statins) and has a notable presence in the areas of diabetology, NSAIDS and asthma.

BoA clears three requests for setting up pharma SEZs

The Board of Approvals has cleared requests from notified SEZs for authorized operations namely Zydus Infrastructure Pvt Ltd- Pharmaceuticals SEZ at Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Hetro Infrastructure Pvt Ltdi - Pharmaceutical SEZ at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and MIDC Sector specific SEZ for Pharmaceuticals at Krushnor district-Nanded, Maharashtra

The meeting of the Board of Approval was held on February 2, 2007 under the chairmanship of commerce secretary, GK Pillai, in which proposals relating to grant of co-developer status and requests for approval of authorized operations by developers and co-developers in respect of some of the 63 notified SEZs were
considered.

S&T ministry prepares plans to hunt for science talents

"The Science and Technology ministry plans to attract talent to study and careers with science through larger investment into science. Various schemes are in pipeline to generate enthusiasm among young students and creating innovative experiences with science i.e. rubbing shoulders with science icons of national and international fame," said Kapil Sibal, the Union minister for science and technology.

The minister who has been optimistic about the double-digit growth of the knowledge-based biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the country noted that the Indian biotechnology industry would reach $40 billion by 2015. To support the growth of this knowledge-based sector there is need to attract students to take up career in subjects related to basic sciences, he said.