The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Bangalore Helix springs back to life

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Tuesday, May 03, 2011
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Bangalore Helix springs back to life

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (right), Chairperson, Biocon India, with M.N. Vidyashankar, Principal Secretary, Science and Technology, at a press conference in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: Several years after the biotech park was first conceptualised, Bangalore Helix appears to have sprung back to life, with two companies shortlisted to take on the reigns, M.N. Vidyashankar , Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, has said.

Work on Bangalore Helix, which is spread over 56 acres in Electronics City here and will support biotech units with common infrastructure, will be completed in three phases, he told presspersons here on Monday.

The final corporate bidder in this public-private-partnership enterprise will be announced at Bangalore Bio, which will be inaugurated on Wednesday. The company's role would be to bring in global biotech firms across the spectrum to Helix.

The project had initially been stalled owing to glitches in corporate partnerships, Mr. Vidyashankar said. The first phase of the Rs. 5,000-crore project will involve developing five lakh sq ft, he added.

Chairperson, Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology and Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, called for simplification of the regulatory framework under which biotech and pharmaceutical companies operate.

“All the advantages that we have as a research and development hub are being negated by cumbersome regulatory hurdles. The Indian industry will get the right signal for innovation only if it sees a streamlined framework,” Ms. Shaw said. The five-year tax holiday for pharmaceutical and biotech companies should begin from the day the approval is given, not from the day the company starts operations, she said and added that regulations should be “sector specific and not follow a one-size-fits-all approach”.

A special focus will be given to discussing the regulatory framework at the three-day Bangalore Bio, Ms. Shaw said. The event, which will include conferences, an international tradeshow, a CEO conclave and a “bioquiz”, will be held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre between Wednesday and Friday.

Over 110 speakers and 800 delegates with a strong focus on biopharma will participate in the conference that will include sessions on regenerative medicine, clinical trials, medical diagnostics and devices. Nearly 5,000 business visitors are expected to visit the exhibition.

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