15th edition of BioAsia 2018 concludes with highest ever participation

Hyderabad : BioAsia, Asia’s largest Biotechnology and Life-sciences forum and the annual flagship event of the Government of Telangana today concluded after three days of insightful deliberations by global leaders of Life Sciences.

This edition saw the highest ever participation of 1,757 delegates from Healthcare, Biotech, Pharma, Life-Sciences, IT, Academia and Startups representing over 52 countries with 100 high profile speakers and 500 Corporates. Around 1,250 partnering meetings were conducted on the sidelines of the event leading to key strategic decisions.

At a fireside chat, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu and Telanana Information Technology K Tarakarama Rao deliberated on the future of the pharmaceutical industry and the opportunities that lie ahead in the domestic and international markets. Mr. Prabhu said “India has become the pharma capital of the world and is helping many countries with affordable drugs and vaccines. Our industry should be positioned to take advantage of new technology and changing demographics.”

In the course of 3 days of BioAsia 2018, KT Rama Rao had several positive discussions with leaders from renowned lifesciences companies including Merck & Co, Biocon, GE Healthcare, Chemo Group and others. While commenting on the success of BioAsia 2018, Rao said, “The 15th edition of BioAsia saw tremendous traction and some significant issues on lifesciences being deliberated. Telangana state also had the opportunity to host and strengthen its relationship with several lifesciences companies. A number of recommendations in terms of policy recommendations, initiatives, etc have emerged from the discussions I have had with the Industry Leaders and we are committed to pursuing these with the Government of India to enable an environment that compliments growth for the sector.”

Shakthi Nagappan, Director of Life Sciences, Govt. of Telangana and CEO, BioAsia said, “The highest number of delegation attendance this year in its journey of 15 years, is a testimony to BioAsia’s stature as the biggest life sciences congregation in Asia. The event saw a large delegation from regulatory agencies like FDA, MHRA and EMA. We look forward to crossing further milestones in 2019.”

Earlier in the day, Dr. Sanat Chattopadhyay, Executive Vice President and President (Manufacturing), Merck & Co. Inc., US, in his keynote, gave a brief overview of Merck’s business including research and innovation. Speaking on the pharmaceutical market in India he said, “India continues to be an attractive industry with strong growth and currently leads the world in bio-generics. However, pricing pressure, challenges in global R&D, technology, regulatory & supply chain will continue to remain in the industry.”