Agilent and C‑CAMP Expand Collaboration to Boost India’s Biopharma Research Infrastructure

Agilent Technologies, a global leader in analytical and laboratory solutions, today announced an expansion of its collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C‑CAMP), a Department of Biotechnology supported initiative. The expanded engagement broadens access to advanced analytical and mass spectrometry‑based capabilities that support life sciences and therapeutic research across India.

Through this collaboration, high‑resolution analytical platforms will be made available via C‑CAMP’s shared infrastructure, supporting applications such as biotherapeutic characterization, oligonucleotide research, and quantitative biomolecular analysis. The model Agilent Technologies, a global leader in analytical and laboratory solutions, today announced an expansion of its collaboration with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C‑CAMP), a Department of Biotechnology supported initiative. The expanded engagement broadens access to advanced analytical and mass spectrometry‑based capabilities that support life sciences and therapeutic research across India. designed to enable researchers from startups, academia and industry to access advanced analytical workflows and deep domain expertise without the need for direct capital investment in specialized instruments or facilities.

As India continues to strengthen its focus on translational research and the development of advanced therapeutics, access to high‑quality analytical infrastructure has become increasingly critical. By expanding this collaboration, Agilent and C‑CAMP aim to help reduce entry barriers and support reliable, reproducible science across the research‑to‑development continuum.

Agilent’s collaboration with C‑CAMP has played a catalytic role in advancing India’s biopharma ecosystem by enabling world‑class, regulatory‑aligned characterization of biologics and biosimilars across therapeutic applications. Building on this momentum, the expanded collaboration deepens Agilent and C‑CAMP’s shared commitment to accelerating next‑generation biotherapeutics and reinforcing India’s ambition to emerge as a globally competitive biopharma hub.

The engagement aligns with C‑CAMP’s vision towards building a connected ecosystem that supports science‑to‑impact pathways, while leveraging Agilent’s expertise in analytical workflows and technology enablement.

“India is a strategic priority for Agilent, and partnerships like this are central to how we expand access to critical scientific capabilities,” said Nandakumar Kalathil, Country General Manager, Agilent India. “Working with C‑CAMP allows a broader community of researchers to leverage advanced analytical workflows that support high‑quality, reproducible science across discovery and translational research.”

“Across Asia Pacific, we are seeing a strong shift toward collaborative, shared infrastructure models that enable broader participation in advanced scientific research,” said Bharat Bhardwaj, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Agilent Technologies. “Our expanded engagement with C CAMP reflects Agilent’s commitment to building inclusive innovation ecosystems—where startups, academia, and industry can accelerate high quality research and translate science into meaningful impact.”

“Partnerships with frontier science and technology leaders such as Agilent will help C-CAMP build cutting-edge capabilities in India to support researchers and innovators across the country. In the coming years, we believe such collaborations will play a key role in enabling technology development and accelerating science-led innovation,” said Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, Director and CEO, C‑CAMP. “The engagement also aligns with C-CAMP’s vision of building a connected ecosystem that supports science-to-impact pathways, while leveraging Agilent’s expertise in analytical workflows and technology enablement.”

The expanded collaboration reflects Agilent’s continued commitment to supporting India’s life sciences landscape by enabling scalable access to advanced analytical capabilities through trusted shared platforms.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global leader in analytical and clinical laboratory technologies, delivering insights and innovation that help our customers bring great science to life. Agilent’s full range of solutions includes instruments, software, services, and expertise that provide trusted answers to our customers' most challenging questions. The company generated revenue of $6.95 billion in fiscal year 2025 and employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.

Healthium Medtech and C-CAMP Launch Surgical Innovation Cohort to Advance Affordable, AI-Enabled Medtech in India

Healthium Medtech and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) recently launched the first cohort of the C-CAMP Healthium Innovations Program for Surgical Interventions and Medical Technologies in Bengaluru.

This program is a part of the CSR initiative of Healthium Medtech. The partnership aims to foster deep-science innovations in digitally enabled medical technologies that are affordable, scalable and clinically impactful. In its first year, the initiative focuses on surgical interventions, an area undergoing rapid modernisation globally but still marked by limited access and affordability across large parts of India.

Despite the increasing adoption of advanced surgical technologies in metropolitan hospitals, smaller healthcare systems in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities often remain underserved. The high cost of imported solutions, along with infrastructure and training gaps, have made it difficult to scale access to modern surgical care. This program was created to address these challenges by nurturing India-led, frugal and scalable innovations that are tailored for local needs without compromising on quality or outcomes.

The initiative brings together two organisations with complementary strengths. Healthium Medtech brings deep expertise in surgical and post-surgical technologies, supported by a diverse product portfolio and robust manufacturing capabilities. The company operates 6 facilities with global certifications and holds over 85 patents across India, the US and Europe. C-CAMP, an initiative supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, has built one of the country’s leading life sciences innovation ecosystems, having supported over 550 deep-tech start-ups across domains and connected with 3000 more.

Together, the collaboration combines clinical insight, market access and ecosystem support to help early-stage ventures overcome critical barriers from research to commercialisation.

The launch event featured inaugural remarks, a showcase by the selected start-ups and a campus tour. The inaugural cohort includes start-ups like BrainSight AI, Nesa Medtech, Cartosense, Shira Medtech, Samaritan AI, Quixotix, Roots to Cusps and Healyantra. These ventures are working across domains such as neurology, urology, AI-enabled surgical planning and diagnostic imaging.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Anish Bafna, CEO and Managing Director, Healthium Medtech, said, “At Healthium, our vision has always been to make quality healthcare more accessible. By collaborating with C-CAMP, we are creating a strong platform for innovators who are tackling some of the most pressing surgical and medical challenges in India. The first cohort reflects the breadth of ideas and talent that can truly shape the future of healthcare.”

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director, C-CAMP, said, “India’s medtech ecosystem is at a critical juncture where innovation must be paired with affordability and scalability. Through this program with Healthium, we are enabling start-ups not only with resources and mentorship, but also with an ecosystem that can help them transform their technologies into solutions that impact lives at scale.”

Over the next nine months, the selected start-ups will receive structured mentorship and incubation support at C-CAMP and access to clinical and industry expertise to help advance their technologies toward market readiness and adoption. The launch of this program comes at a time when India’s medtech sector is gaining momentum, supported by policy initiatives, rising domestic demand and growing investor interest.

C-CAMP and Japan's Beyond Next Ventures Launch Hub to Fund & Mentor Indian Life Sciences, Bio-Tech Startups

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), India’s premier bio-innovation hub recently signed an Letter of Intent (LOI) with Tokyo, Japan-based venture capital firm Beyond Next Ventures (BNV), which is also one of the leading independent accelerators in Japan dedicated to incubation investment in technology start-ups.

The aim of this collaboration is to encourage and promote the best deep science innovations in the field of Life Sciences and Biotechnology in India.

The two organizations intend to create the C-CAMP – BNV Innovation Hub (CBIH) which will largely focus on facilitating Japanese investment of up to 5 million USD in Indian start-ups working on exciting technologies in the Life Sciences and Biotech domain.

This hub also aims to support start-ups in both the regions through exchange of human resources and technologies and through other facilitation programs and events to connect skilled talent, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in both regions.

C-CAMP has over the last few years interacted with over 500 start-ups and supported over 100 of these through funding, incubation and mentorship.

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director, C-CAMP said “C-CAMP has been identifying and supporting the most exciting early stage innovations and now looks forward to nurture many more such high-risk high-return innovations at an early stage through this collaboration with Beyond Next Ventures. This will be a fantastic start to build Indo-Japan collaborations for high-end innovations.”

Mr. Tsuyoshi Ito CEO, BNV said “We are very excited to jointly launch the “C-CAMP Beyond Next Ventures Innovation Hub” (“CBIH”) in collaboration with the top incubator in India C-CAMP. As the top accelerator and VC in Japan, we look forward to combining our experience and extensive network with C-CAMP to support new innovations in Japan and India. Through this collaboration, we plan to make full-fledged venture investments into the life sciences field of India and contribute to the industrial and economic development in India in the future."

Established in August 2014, BNV is an independent accelerator dedicated to incubation investment in technology startups. It is one of the few leading companies in the field in Japan with a wealth of investment experience ranging from support for commercialization of university seeds to venture investment, growth support, and excellent operation results, and JSTs university new industry creation program. It has been recognized as a business promoter at (START) and EDO's R & D venture support project. The first fund established in February 2015, and the second fund established in October 2018, totals less than 15 billion yen, operating as the country's largest fund as an accelerator, and will be invested in a large number of technology startups, supporting its commercialization and
growth.

BNV is actively working on commercialization support other than funding, "BRAVE acceleration program", for researchers / entrepreneurs such as universities and research institutes aiming to commercialize innovative technologies, matching with management human resources candidates, knowledge and human resources for commercialization realization We provide network and growth funds. In addition, a program called “Blockbuster TOKYO” That supports contracting from Tokyo and supports entrepreneurship in drug discovery and medical ventures and growth of drug discovery and medical venture companies also operates.

In February 2019, as a base to provide start-up companies in the life sciences area with support for commercialization including research and development, BNV launched the share lab / wet lab “Beyond BioLAB TOKYO” in Chuo-ku, Tokyo.

From March 2019, BNV started to provide a co-founder matching platform "Co-founders" specialized for technical seeds and researchers at universities(URL:https://co-founders.team/)and by providing the online matching opportunities and real support, we are helping to create a strong founding team.

C-CAMP Launches New Startup Initiatives including An Incubator and CoE in Agri-Innovation

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

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