On September 26, 2012 a unique webinar was held by Metro Atlanta Chamber in partnership and collaboration with FDASmart, a US-based with India offices life sciences and pharmaceutical services firm. Express Pharma was the exclusive media partner to the 90-minute webinar, which focused on opportunities and challenges of life science Small, Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the US- Atlanta region seeking possible Indian collaboration or partnering.
US speakers included an HIV vaccine early stage developer in Atlanta and a brief, but comprehensive snapshot of Atlanta as a life sciences hub in the US South East by Metro Atlanta Chamber while Indian webinar speakers addressed India’s CRAMs and CMO market leader possibilities beyond small molecules and generics plus financing life science ventures in today’s globally strapped economic and investment scenario.
Highlighting Atlanta’s advantages, David Hartnett, VP-Bioscience and Healthcare IT, Metro Atlanta Chamber mentioned that tech majors from India like Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata, and L&T were already in the arena. He indicated that consultations were on with Indian companies in the biosciences arena as well. A key attraction for Indian companies could be features like the 85,000 sq feet of shared bioscience incubator space available in the Innovation Crescent, a collection of 13 communities in close proximity to Atlanta.
Robert McNally, President and CEO, GeoVax Labs talked about the HIV/AIDS vaccine being developed by his company and his intention to partner with Indian pharma and biotech companies for the development of the Clade C version which would be suitable for Indian populations.
Satish Nagaraj, Global Business Development, Syngene International spoke about converging disease patterns in the developing and developed worlds, which is increasing the need for partnerships between the US and India. According to him, India makes a very good value proposition for US-based big pharma and biopharma players not just on the cost front but also for its scientific talent pool, diverse genetic profile, attention to quality as well as government initiatives like biotech parks, etc.
Rounding off the India perspective, Vishal Gandhi, Managing Partner and CEO, BioRx Venture Advisors gave a perspective about the financial ecosystem, commenting that while the Indian Government is committed to take the biotech segment to the next level, there is a huge scope for PPPs. While 70 per cent of PE funds in India want to invest in pharma and biotech industries, the lack of a clear exit strategy could be a threatening factor.
Based on the success of the first webinar with Metro Atlanta Chamber, Ram Balani, CEO-Founder, FDASmart indicated there would be more future life sciences webinars to come. According to him, “These unique webinars address a big gap which customary trade delegations cannot bridge, i.e. bringing together (virtually at first) start-up, small innovative life sciences companies from both Atlanta and India that will hopefully foster partnering or new business developments beneficial to both the US and Indian life sciences industry sector.”
EP News Bureau
