Biocon to set up R&D unit in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: India’s largest biopharmaceutical company Biocon will set up an R&D lab of its subsidiary Syngene in Genome Valley here and it’s expected to generate 1,000 high tech jobs. In addition to this, the Bengaluru-based company will also expand its current presence on APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) / Intermediates, located at Pashamylaram, Sanga Reddy district. The expansion plan will add another 500 new jobs to the existing facility.

The expansion plan and new R&D center will generate 1,500 employment opportunities in total, said Biocon MD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who met Telangana IT & Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on the sidelines of BioAsia-2018 at HICC on Friday.

She had informed KTR about the decision of Biocon to expand its operations in Telangana and setting up of an R&D center, during the meeting. KTR gave an overview of the latest infrastructure that the Telangana government has been developing in the state, which includes Pharma City, Medical Devices Park and Genome Valley Phase-2.

Minister also informed Kiran Mazumdar about the startup ecosystem and few interesting startups in the healthcare and pharma sectors. Appreciating the Minister, Biocon MD Kiran Mazumdar remarked that she was very impressed his visionary leadership. She opined that when the industry sees leadership like this, they are motivated to come forward and support them.

KTR said: “Hyderabad has an established ecosystem of healthcare and life sciences companies. Out of the 160 US FDA approved companies, more than 60 are located in Hyderabad. Genome Valley 2.0 will focus on innovation in nano-sciences and radiotherapy as well as API manufacturing. Telangana state hopes to leverage its strong position to become the Gateway of India for biotechnology and life sciences. The government needs to incentivize R&D and act as an enabler to companies that are transitioning from chemicals to biologics. It is also important to look at lifesciences as a spectrum and synergies flowing from medical devices to generics and the next.”

During the interactions at BioAsia-2018, KTR also met Terri Bresenham, CEO & President, Sustainable Healthcare Division, GE. During the meeting, the GE team has expressed interest to collaborate with Telangana Academy of Skill & Knowledge (TASK) in healthcare skilling.

Minister informed the GE team that another arm of GE - the GE First Build is partnering with Telangana Government’s prestigious initiative and the country’s largest prototyping lab, T-Works. Earlier in the day, a business delegation headed by Chutima Bunyapraphasara, Deputy Minister of Commerce, Thailand, met KTR at BioAsia 2018.

During the meeting, Minister explained about the state’s proactive business environment and how the state has ranked number one in Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index. Minister gave an overview of various priority sectors like pharma, life sciences, aviation, food processing, etc. Minister said that Telangana and its capital city Hyderabad are located at the centre of India with very good connectivity to various cities both within and outside the country.

During a meeting with meeting with Italian Consul General in Mumbai Stefania Costanza, Minister said that the startup state of Telangana has become a role model state in attracting investments. The Consul General has informed the Minister that a delegation of Italian Chamber of Commerce will soon visit Telangana to explore business opportunities.