Takshashila Issue Brief - Biotechnology Initiative for India
On September 12, 2022, the United States (US) federal government announced the launch of a National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative, under which it will provide a wide range of new investments and resources for the fields. The initiative plans to accelerate innovation and grow the US's bioeconomy across health, agriculture, energy and other industries.
Specifically, the initiative seeks to enable growth of domestic biomanufacturing capacity, expanding market opportunities for bio-based products including through mandatory purchasing by federal agencies, identify and drive R&D in new bioscience and biotechnology discoveries, streamline regulations for biotechnology products, and build a global bioeconomy with US’s partners and allies. The initiative also touches upon the need for the US to support its local biotech economy which has lost out due to past off-shoring of critical industries.
The US initiative comes at a time when global demand for biotech is surging due to pandemic infused shortages and supply chain disruptions. India, which is a key biotech player in its own right, has an opportunity to bolster its biotech industry and foray into biomanufacturing. As the world emerges from the throes of the pandemic, India must aim for becoming a biotech leader by being self-reliant as well as a global export house.
In this Issue Brief, we discuss the high level strategy for advancing India’s biotech sector and certain recommendations on the issue. We also point out how India’s interests are aligned with the US and other Quad countries in this regard and there is space for cooperation on many fronts.
Biotech Strategy for India
In A Strategy to Make India a Biotech Leader by 2025, we argue that the strategy to make India biotech superpower rests on two planks other than winning the war against Covid-19: economic revival in the short to medium term and economic competitiveness in the long-run through making India a global healthcare hub.
We recommend the following initiatives to overcome the challenges India’s biotech sector faces and create economic success:
New economic value drivers for India
A national fund to promote affordable innovation in biotech and healthcare with an expected budget of Rs. 1,000 crores over three years.
Attract investment, talent and intellectual property in strategic sectors for making India global hub for vaccines, generics, contract manufacturing and clinical research.
A global consortium for infectious diseases through forums like G-20 or UN umbrella championed by India.
2. Strategic public investments in the biotech sector
Double the number of biotech parks to 30 and create parks focused on themes such as cancer and genetically modified seeds.
Pandemic preparation through reserves for PPE, ventilators, and critical medicines with advance procurement guarantees to indigenous companies.
Training centres and institutions for preparing talent for the industry through PPP, wherever possible.
3. Regulatory reform for growth
Establish a single Ministry of Life Sciences and Health with structural separation for policy, regulatory, licensing, standards & quality control, and dispute resolution functions.
Create a Life Science Information System connecting government, labs, academic institutions and industry.
Review the Biodiversity Act, 2002 with a view to balance biodiversity and its responsible and sustainable economic use.
Create a Safe Clinical Trials Framework to allow safe and dignified preclinical and clinical trials, with an emphasis on access to better and affordable drugs in the country.
In addition to the above, sector-specific attention should be paid to bioagriculture, bioindustry, bioinformatics, bioservices and biopharma.
Biotech Collaboration through the Quad
The Quad, consisting of the US, India, Japan and Australia, is committed to cooperation in advanced biotech, including synthetic biology, genome sequencing and biomanufacturing. The US initiative also identifies biomanufacturing as a critical domain and proposes cooperation with partner countries.
In Takshashila Issue Paper - The Case for Quad Cooperation in Biotechnology, we argue that Quad has potential for cooperation in several areas based on the mutual strengths and advantages the Quad countries enjoy. For instance, the Quad can create a Pandemic Research Hub. Quad countries which are home to almost a quarter of the global population will benefit from interdisciplinary programmes in epidemiology, disease modeling and drug discovery amongst universities and research institutes under the aegis of a research hub. Similar potential exists for Quad cooperation in the areas of sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, vaccines, gene editing, synthetic biology and computational biology.
Compiled by Shrikrishna Upadhyaya, with inputs from Shambhavi Naik. October 3, 2022.
Further Material:
A Strategy to Make India a Biotech Leader by 2025 by Takshashila Working Group
Takshashila Issue Paper - The Case for Quad Cooperation in Biotechnology by Arjun Gargeyas, Ruturaj Gowaiker and Shambhavi Naik
My Wish List of Health and Life Science Policies for 2021 by Shambhavi Naik
Unleashing of the Life Sciences: What India needs for leading in 2045 by Shambhavi Naik in India's Marathon: Reshaping the Post-Pandemic World Order
All Things Policy: What are the Quad’s plans in Biotech? by Shrey Khanna and Arjun Gargeyas
