The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a collaborative mission between industry and academia called ‘Innovate in India empowering biotech entrepreneurs and accelerating inclusive innovation' that is aimed at accelerating research for early development of bio-pharmaceuticals.
The mission would attract an investment of INR 1,500 crore from the central government over a period of five years.
Half of the funding would be funded through a loan from World Bank.
The mission will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector undertaking working under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
The mission will focus on key areas that would supplement country’s technological and product development capabilities in the biopharmaceutical sector to enable the sector to become globally competitive over the next 10-15 years.
The significance of the mission lies in the fact that National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-2020 announced by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) lays emphasis on making the country achieve USD 100 billion biotech industry by 2025.
The mission will concentrate on development of specific products such as vaccines, biotherapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics etc.
Besides, the mission will also work on establishment of shared infrastructure and facilities.
The mission will help in building and strengthening domain specific knowledge and management skills at the same time creating and enhancing technology transfer capabilities in public and private sector.
