Tech can act as force multiplier, help Life Sciences sector grow: KTR

Minister for Industries and IT K. T. Rama Rao, Lithuania’s Vice Minister for Economy and Innovation, Odisha’s Minister for S&T Ashok Chandra Panda, Estonia’s Ambassador Katrin Kivi, officials, industry leaders with winners of Startups Showcase at the valedictory of BioAsia 2023 in Hyderabad on Saturday. | Photo Credit: Arrangement

Curtains came down on the conference component of the 20th annual edition of BioAsia, Telangana government’s flagship event devoted to Life Sciences and Healthcare, on Saturday with Minister for Industries and IT K. T. Rama Rao reiterating the State government’s commitment to accelerate growth of the industry.

Stating this was the biggest BioAsia with participation of more than 2,000 delegates, 175 exhibitors and startups, 50 countries and over 2,000 B2B meetings, the Minister said there was no better location than India for the Life Sciences industry and among States there is none who can truly match up to the abilities that Telangana possesses.

Telangana’s Life Sciences ecosystem was valued at $80 billion last year and the State government has set up an ambitious target to triple this to $250 by 2030, something that is bound to help the entire industry in India. The road ahead for the Life Sciences industry is exciting considering the possibilities on how technology can be a force multiplier to innovate and help it scale, Mr. Rao said, pointing to how at the core of this is the talent pool available in the country.

Over two days, BioAsia conference served as a platform for wide ranging deliberations among stakeholders in the Life Sciences industry, from captains of the industry, experts, regulators, investors, academia and startups. As part of the startup showcase 76 startups, from among 400, got to showcase their projects and services.

The five start-ups selected by jury for cash and other prizes were Exobot Dynamics; Lambdagen Therapeutics; Pratibha Healthkon; Ramja Genosensor and SatyaRX Pharma Innovations.

In a release, BioAsia organisers said Exobot Dynamics develops bionic limbs, exoskeletons and assistive devices to improve health and performance of people with disabilities, diseased and able-bodied individuals. Lambdagen Therapeutics Singapore in collaboration with The University of MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA aims to develop personalised brain tumor myeloid cell-based cancer vaccine with LambdaGen’s proprietary non-viral genome engineering technology pipelines.

Pratibha Healthkon is a health and medtech start-up from Telangana which has positioned itself as a solutions provider and open innovation partner to corporations in the primary health space that provide workflow for managing screening of people in a particular area.

Ramja Genosensor is world’s first paper-based device that can detect any infection and antimicrobial resistance in 90 minutes. SatyaRX Pharma Innovations is a drug discovery company focused on discovery and development of novel drugs for cancers.

“Every year, BioAsia sparks global renewal of joint commitment to build on healthcare innovation at scale,” Industries and IT Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said.

“Nothing will replace the power of in-person knowledge sharing and collaborations that occur at BioAsia every year. Over the past two days of global bio-business conference had witnessed significant and beneficial deliberations,” BioAsia CEO and Director, Telangana Life Sciences Shakthi Nagappan said. The exhibition component of BioAsia concludes on Sunday.