Global Bio India – flagship event of DBT and BIRAC took place during 11-14th September, 2024 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The event was a great success because it is probably the first time when any event of the Biotech sector witnessed this huge crowd. In this edition, GBI 2024 theme has been ‘Biotech Innovation’ and ‘Bio-manufacturing’ and its impact on the Bioeconomy. It also witnessed the launch of the BioE3 policy recently approved by the government. BIOe3 stands for Biotechnology for— economic growth, environment sustainability and employment generation.
Unlike many other events of Biotech the focus here was on startups and incubators. Almost every Biotech Incubator and BIRAC grantee was either exhibitor or delegate of the event. It was announced that event has gathered around 12000+ footfall, 25 sessions and more than 650+ exhibitors.
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh addressed the inaugural ceremony of ‘Global Bio India 2024’ Conference through video conference. Many leaders were part of the event that discussed science and industry revolving around Biotech. Leaders like Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to PM, Prof Ajay Sood; DG- CSIR, Dr N Kalaisevli; Director NIAB, Dr G Taru Sharma, Director ILS, Dr. Debasis Dash, etc., Group Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani and industrialists like Owner of Biocon, Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Owner of TATA1mg etc. And of course, BIRAC MD, DG-iBRIC Dr Rajesh Gokhale & other scientists like Dr Alka Sharma and team members like Mrs Shilpy Kochhar were present at the event.
BIRAC signed Letter of Intent with 13 leading organisations namely- United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP); UK Research and Innovation (UKRI); Danaher India; Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology (MIBL); La Trobe University; Blockchain for Impact (BFI); US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF); IBioM (Indian Biotech MSME and Startup Foundation); Bharat Startup and Innovation Society (BSIS)- Bharat Startup Festival; the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and IPE Global to promote co-funding partnerships.
During the event BRIC and BIRAC head Dr Gokhale said, “though the number of startups are huge and only few will go through first survival and then making huge profit, but we have prepared a talent pool” which indicated that he himself feel that being an entrepreneur is a risky task. Thus before planning to become an entrepreneur it is important to see and feel the nitty-gritty of the field, a scientist shared with Biotech Express. He added, a similar hype has been in the market since the biotech born but still India has only 4-5 big vaccine and biosimilars manufacturers who accounts for almost 90% chunk out of total bioeconomy, we also need plans to make more such big players, he added.
Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Dr. M.K. Bhan, the visionary behind BIRAC, for his instrumental role in shaping India’s biotech sector.
Team of DBT and BIRAC – Dr. Rajesh S Gokhale, Secretary, DBT, DG, iBRIC, Chairman, BIRAC; Dr. Alka Sharma, Senior Adviser, Scientist ‘H’, DBT; Dr. G.S. Krishnan, President, ABLE; Dr. Jitendra Kumar, MD, BIRAC and Ms. Shilpy Kochhar, Head-Business Development & Communications, BIRAC joined for the valedictory session thanked all the participants, speakers, panelists, partners and organizers.
The conference also saw the presentation of awards to recognise exceptional contributions to the biotech industry. Exceptional contributions to the biotech industry were recognized with awards namely: BIRAC Innovators Awards, Best Startup Exhibitor Awards, Best Incubator Exhibitor Awards, and BioE3 Competition Awards.
