The presence of a Nobel Laureate, a World Food Prize Laureate & other thought leaders, the intensity of the conference sessions & quality of business meetings, sheer number of countries, companies & delegates participating, number of state & central bodies present, reiterates the stature of Bangalore INDIA BIO as India's Biggest and most important Biotech Event.
Organised by the Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka and the Vision Group on Biotechnology - Bangalore INDIA BIO's success showcases the commitment by the Government of Karnataka to promote Biotechnology in the state. Karnataka continues to pave the path and be the Biotech hub of India and the Government wants to make the BT sector the IT sector of tomorrow.
Commenting on the event, Nobel Laureate 2012 Professor Sir John Gurdon, Kt DPhil DSc FRS: ”Kudos to Karnataka for growing leaps and bounds in Biotechnology. Bangalore INDIA BIO 2014 has given me a heads up on the role of biotechnology in India and Karnataka.
World Food Prize Laureate 2013 Em. Prof. Dr. Marc Van Montagu, “Since my previous visit in 1970 there has been a sea change in science and technology. My meeting with the biotech fraternity at Bangalore INDIA BIO 2014 has been a revelation. I congratulate the Govt. for the support provided to the industry.”
A memorable statement made by him was - “21st century plants are GM plants because it is needed to fight hunger, poverty and save the planet.”
The event was inaugurated on 10th Feb 2014 by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka Shri Siddaramaiah, Nobel Laureate, World Food Prize Laureate, Shri S.R. Patil- Hon’ble Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology; Planning and Statistics, Government of Karnataka, Shri Roshan Baig, Hon’ble Minister for Infrastructure Development, Information & Haj, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri K. Govindaraj, Member of Legislative Council, General Secretary, KPCC, Mr. Ian Felton, Deputy High Commissioner, British Deputy High Commission, Bangalore, Prof. K. VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, Shri Kaushik Mukherjee, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology; Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon Limited, Shri Srivatsa Krishna, IAS, Secretary to Government, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology and DPAR (e-Governance), Government Of Karnataka and Shri Jagdish Patankar, Managing Director, MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications, Publisher – BioSpectrum - India & Asia.
Commenting on the successful conclusion of the event, Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, said, “Bangalore INDIA BIO has been successful as it has a unique format and is the optimal platform for the industry to interact. The Govt. of Karnataka has played a very enabling role in bringing academy, industry and government together. The futuristic policies allow Karnataka and Bangalore to play a strong leadership role and create recognition as a globally important and relevant hub for research development and production of important biotech product, which will feed the world, heal the world and protect the world.”
Mr. Srivatsa Krishna, said, “Biotech, Bangalore & Bangalore INDIA BIO are synonymous with each other. The platform that the event offers is second to none. We are very pleased with the outcome of this year's event. It was an honour to host Sir John Gurdon and Prof. Dr. Marc Van Montagu.”
Panel discussions, powerful presentations, inspiring talks, ruled the roost in the 14th edition of Bangalore INDIA BIO. Professor Sir John Gurdon and Em. Prof. Dr. Marc Van Montagu's talks captivated the audience. The International Conference deliberated on issues of pressing interest to the Biotech sector including Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Biosimilars, Personalised Medicine, Biomedical Devices and Digital Health, BioInformatics for Drug Discovery & Development, Key Issues in Clinical Trials Development and Agri Biotech & Secondary Agriculture – Needs of the Nation.
The “Fireside Chat,” focused on the increasing role of technology in Healthcare and the Round Table discussion on “Harmonisation of Global Regulatory Framework with special focus on Asia Pacific,” was enlightening and captivating. The CEO Conclave - an exclusive gathering of CEOs, R&D Heads, Policy makers, Venture Capitalists, Investment Bankers held an interesting panel discussion on "Scaling up biotech companies to handle the changing business environment."
The key speakers at Bangalore INDIA BIO included Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology; Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon Limited, Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Health, Mr. S. Gopalakrishnan (Kris), Co-Founder & Executive Vice Chairman, Infosys Limited. Dr. B.S. Ajaikumar, Chairman & CEO, Health Care Global Enterprises Limited, Dr. Andrew Milner, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, NeuroSciences Victoria, Australia, Dr. P.M. Murali, President, ABLE India; Managing Director, Evolva Biotech, Professor Graham Jenkin, Deputy Director, The Ritchie Centre for Translational Research, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Dr. Murali-Krishna Kaja, Associate Director, ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Shridhar Narayanan, Vice President and Head, Infection science, AstraZeneca, Bangalore, Dr. Krishna M. Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech, Dr. K. K. Narayanan, Managing Director, Metahelix Life Sciences Limited., to name some.
The event had an International participation from nearly 20 countries, including UK, USA, Malaysia, Korea, Australia, Belgium, Scotland, Germany, Canada, Nepal, Nigeria, Poland, Netherlands, Japan, Czech Republic, Hong Kong to name some. The delegations expressed their delight in the quality of interactions and networking opportunity created at Bangalore INDIA BIO.
In a first of its kind, KBITS (Govt. of Karnataka) organised a programme “Bio-Accelerate” a Live Business plan competition for start-ups. The companies were given an opportunity to present their concepts and ideas. SIX short-listed companies presented before a grand jury of industry and Govt. of Karnataka officials. The first prize was bagged by Dr. Charusheila Ramkumar of Mir Life Sciences, Ms. Mohita Sharma of MatSyntoForma and Dr. Manjiri Bakre of OncoStem.
This coincides with the bio-incubation centres that are being made available by the Govt. of Karnataka at the Bangalore Helix, Biotech park. Besides the prize money & certificate, all the finalists will be given a 50% rebate in rental in these incubation centre. KBITS has also set-up a mock-up of the bio-incubation center & Medlab and presented a stunning 3D walk-through of the center at the inauguration function.
The Trade-show saw participation from about 90 companies from various verticals of Life Sciences Industry like biopharmaceuticals, bio-suppliers, bio-informatics, bio-medical devices in Bangalore INDIA BIO 2014.
Bio-Excellence Awards were given under various categories - Bio Pharma and Healthcare bagged by Serum Institute of India Ltd, BioAgri was bagged by Nuziveedu Seeds, the BioServices category was awarded to Jubilant Life Sciences, BioIndustrial – Advanced Enzyme Technologies Ltd, and BioInformatics & Systems Biology was bagged by Strand Life Sciences
Emerging Company of the Year - The categories and winners were BioPharma & Healthcare - Stempeutics Research Pvt. Ltd, Bio Services – Anthem BioSciences Pvt Ltd, Bio-Industrial – Sea6 Energy Pvt Ltd, BioInformatics – Novo Informatics Pvt Ltd.
Exhibitors Awards were also given under various categories. The categories and winners respectively were – for Interactive and Best Managed - Multiplex Group, Life Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., Omega Scientific Instruments Pvt. Ltd. And Genotypic Technology, Bio Content and Information bagged by Guwahati Biotech Park, Govt of Assam, Eppendorf, Medix Biochemica, for Design and Innovation - Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), EF – Biosys bagged the award.
InterlinX partnering tool Awards, introduced this year, were presented to Mr. Jan Marian Stoj, DINO-96 Poland for getting the most number of meeting requests under the International Delegate Category and Mr. Prasenjit Dasgupta, Yokogawa IA Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. under Indian Delegate Category.
Bangalore INDIA BIO 2014, presented the Poster Awards. The winners were Anup Kumar Abkari of Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences for the poster on Prevention of Neurodegeneration by Naringin An in vitro Study, Aradhana Vipra of GangaGen Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd. For the poster Bacteriophages: An alternative to antibiotics in the poultry industry GangaGen Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd, Kiranmai G. from Maharani Lakshmi Ammani College for Women for the poster Molecular docking analysis of GC-MS-identified compounds of Cyperus rotundus with anti-diabetic receptors: A dry-wet lab interaction study.
In the state level ‘BioQuiz 2014’ The winners were Ms. Shreenidhi Sharma & Ms. Anjali A V from Yuvaraja's College, Mysore, Second place by Ms. Megan Dsouza & Ms. Namita Nayak from St. Aloysious College, Ujjre, Mangalore and third place was bagged by Ms. Girija S & Ms. Joyti K Bhovi, S B Arts & K C P Science College, Bijapur. The prizes were given to the winners by Shri S.R. Patil - Hon’ble Minister for Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology and Planning & Statistics, Government of Karnataka and by Ace Swimmer and Arjuna Award winner Ms. Nisha Millet. Preliminary rounds were conducted across Karnataka where-in large number of students participated and the six finalists battled it out in the Grand Finale of ‘BioQuiz 2014’.
For more information on Bangalore INDIA BIO 2014, visit: www.bangaloreindiabio.in
