Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), which is India’s largest incubator to boost life science research, innovation and entrepreneurship, has recently launched of three of its initiatives - Karnataka Startup Advancement Program (K-SAP) BIO 50, Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Agri-Innovation and Technology Business Incubator.

The launch was conducted in the presence of Shri K. J. George, Hon’ble Minister of Large & Medium Scale Industries, IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka and Shri N. H. Shivashankara Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Govt. of Karnataka, along with Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT & S&T, Govt. of Karnataka, Shri Gaurav Gupta.

Notably, C-CAMP is a Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India initiative to provide platforms for technology development and nurture innovations in the area of life sciences. C-CAMP is also a member of the Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster (BLiSC) with a mandate to enable cutting-edge life science research and innovation and promote life science entrepreneurship.

In line with C-SAP, C-CAMP in association with Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Services (KBITS) and Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC) has also initiated a 1 year equity based mentorship and capacity building program for startups based out of Karnataka, the Karnataka Startup Advancement Program (K-SAP) BIO 50.

The main objective of this program is to meaningfully engage and work closely with Karnataka startups to enhance their odds of success and to enable startups achieve faster traction in their key milestones”, explained Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO, C-CAMP.

Till date, C-CAMP has incubated over 30 innovative startups and entrepreneurs working in different areas of Life Sciences and Biotechnology. Its incubatees are currently working in the fields of drug discovery, molecular biology, transgenic model systems, biomaterials, synthetic biology, upstream & downstream processing, agricultural sciences, nutraceuticals etc

“The scientists in our country are doing a wonderful job. The government of Karnataka is very happy to join hands with C-CAMP which is an initiative of Government of India. We are happy to help you out in your ventures and you have our full support”, said K J George, Hon’ble Minister of Large & Medium Scale Industries, IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka while addressing the audience during the inaugural ceremony.

“In the agricultural system, there are a lot of missing links. Although we are focusing on production we are not giving enough importance to processing and marketing. We need to work on this. C-CAMP as an incubation centre can provide with few solutions to address such problems. There are so many innovations happening in India that can be applied in agriculture”, stated Shri N. H. Shivashankara Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture, Govt. of Karnataka during the inauguration.

In last couple of years, Biotechnology startups scenario in India has improved tremendously. In a 2017 study by Association of Biotechnology Led enterprises (ABLE) revealed that Indian biotech startup ecosystem is booming with 1022 bio-technology startups and it has managed to fetch investments of over $2.8 billion (Rs 18,700 crore) in five years i.e from 2012 to 2016.

In April this year, Swiss multinational healthcare firm Roche informally announced that it is looking for startups in India that will help the company bring evidence-based medicine in India through its proprietary technology

However a life sciences or medical product company is yet to make it big in India, despite a startup culture that is now almost two-decades years old.

Last October, Union Minister of Science and Technology launched Women Bio-tech Incubator at Golden Jubilee Biotech Park for Women Society during International Science Congress, 2017 in Chennai.

In 2016, Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) made waves in the Indian startup ecosystem when it launched an Innovation Hub (iHUB@CCMB) in its medical biotechnology complex there. Last year, it even selected 4 biotech startup companies for this incubator.

Source - Bio Spectrum India

[Top Image - foto-basa.com]
Advertisements

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post
Like this content? Sign up for our daily newsletter to get latest updates.