The Government of India launched the National Pharma Mission for the development of bio pharmaceuticals through industry-academia collaboration. This program will focus on the development of specific products such as vaccines, biotherapeutics, and newer platform technologies for medical devices and diagnostics.
Funded by India’s central government and through a loan from the World Bank, the Mission will be implemented by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a unit of the Department of Biotechnology. Renu Swarup, managing director of BIRAC said, “This mission is not for new discovery, but for creating infrastructure to move important early leads, which are in different stages, through the pipeline, and create products.”
The National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-2020 announced by the Department of Biotechnology lays emphasis on making India ready to meet the challenge of achieving a $100 billion biotech industry by 2025, reports the Indian Express.
