Reflecting the emergence of India as a top global destination for research and development in the bio-pharma sector, leading industry leaders, investors, academicians and policy makers would attend a day-long US-India Bio-Pharma and Healthcare Summit in Boston in May.
Organised by the USA-India Chamber of Commerce, the sixth annual summit is aimed to bring top industry leaders from the two countries on one single platform to enhance the Indo-US relationship in the fast emerging and important sector of Bi-Pharma and Health care.
"Participation of so many eminent people reflects their recognition of potential for valuable collaborations to bring forward innovative therapies for patients in India and the world," said Martin Mackay, president of Pfizer PharmaTherapeutics R&D, who is also a co-chair for the summit.
"India is now developing very fast with its own R&D model," said Dr Marc Cluzel, Global Head of R&D for Sanofi-aventis.
"During my recent visit to India and thanks to several interactions I had with top officials, leading scientists and top entrepreneurial managers, I was able to get comforted in this view. What was striking and encouraging to me was that the government and private sector are working hand in hand in India," he said.
Other co-Chairs for 2010 Summit are: Dr Martin Mackay, president PharmaTherapeutics R&D Pfizer; Hari Bhartia, managing director, Jubilant Organosys; Dr Mervyn Turner, chief strategy officer & senior vice president- Emerging Markets, Merck & Co and Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman, Medanta- The Medicity.
"During the day-long meeting, participants would brain storm on a wide range of issues including drug discovery & development, industry-academic partnerships, healthcare opportunities, clinical research, funding innovation and cross border M&A trends," said Karun Rishi, president of the USA-India Chamber of Commerce.
Noting that the growth in the healthcare services in India is driven by the 350 million strong middle class people aspiring for quality and affordable healthcare services, Dr Trehan said according to the WHO report, India needs to add 80,000 hospital beds each year for the next five years to meet the demands of its growing population.
"This presents a great opportunity for ethical players with long term view," he said.
Stating that US has been an important partner of India in its overall trade and Pharmaceutical sector has been an important component of it, Ashok Kumar, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals argued that US-India cooperation in Pharmaceuticals would be an important aspect of Department of Pharmaceutical Vision & Mission and would play an important role in our efforts of fostering innovation, creating mutually beneficial business opportunities and partnerships.
In a statement, the Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers, Srikant Jena said: "The Summit provides an insight to the policy makers regarding growing and varying needs of various stakeholders and thus to decide upon policy initiatives to facilitate cross border investments, create public-private-academic partnerships and open new opportunities."
