BANGALORE: Bio-Merieux of France and Eppendorf AG of Germany announced plans to set up shop in Bangalore, which already boasts the biggest cluster of biotechnology companies in the country. Eighty-four of the 165 biotechnology companies in India are located here. Alain Merieux, chairman, Bio-Merieux, and Klaus Fink, CEO, Eppendorf, made the announcements at the opening ceremony of the three-day Bio 2003 that has attracted 120 companies from 20 countries, including the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore, Malaysia, Uruguay and India. "They are locating their units here. Even a small unit for vaccine research and production attracts an investment of over 250 million. This is the best thing that could happen and give a boost to Bangalore as the biotechnology capital of India," Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson of the Vision group on biotechnology in Karnataka, told IANS on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of what is billed as Asia's largest biotech show. "India is on the threshold of the biotechnology revolution not only to fulfil its own requirements but do global business. France wishes to partner with India," French Ambassador to India Dominique Girard said. According to the latest survey of the biotechnology sector in Bangalore, in the last year the number of companies setting up shop here went up from 62 to 84, the highest increase in the country. The scientific manpower in these companies went up to a record 5,000 with the total number of employees going up to 8,000, up from 5,000 last year. And investment in all the projects went up from 5 billion to 7.5 billion and revenue went up from 7.5 billion to 14 billion. "Exports were up from 2.5 billion to 5.2 billion. Forty-five of these companies have 200 PCT patents, 140 Indian patents and 63 international patents. It shows the intellectual capital available here and we expect additional investment of 10 billion in the next three years," Shaw said. "Bangalore is acknowledged as the BT capital of India because it is totally focussed. The Vision group got a Carte Blanche from (Karnataka) Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and Bangalore Bio 2003 has become a brand equity for India," he added. Shaw, however, had one regret: that the community of venture capitalists was still reluctant or tight-fisted to make investments in biotechnology. "They contributed just 300 million." The latest survey report was adequate for Krishna to instruct his Biotechnology Minister, D.B. Inamdar, and officials to immediately develop "The Bangalore Helix", a biotechnology park, in Electronics City. Krishna unveiled the foundation stone plaque at the trade show. "I have told them not to develop it in phases. But to start developing the entire 225 acres in one go," Krishna told IANS. And waiting to "look around" Bangalore was Staf Van Reet from the corporate office of science and technology of Johnson & Johnson from Belgium. "I am just scouting around to look at possibilities of contract research and assess the intellectual capital here. Bioinformatics, for instance, has done well here." He added: "The industry is producing so much of data that the challenge is in interpretation and connecting correctly, whether it be clinical or molecular research. I am here to meet companies, research institutions and government bodies and check the climate out."
Source: IANS