Is the life sciences industry 'future ready'?

The two-day event is of great relevance in the wake of ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the burgeoning life sciences industry comprises drugs extracted or semi synthesized from biological sources like vaccines. This segment demonstrates immense potential as it involves the manufacture of hormones, insulin, blood products and vaccines which have become crucial components in the preemption, management and treatment of modern health conditions. These complex drugs have been proven to perform remarkably well, offering high efficacy and few side effects. They also offer hope in cutting-edge medical sciences of regenerative medicine and disease remission

Is the life sciences industry in India 'future ready' to face the pandemic driven challenges and capture the opportunities in the post-Covid-19 world? This is the question in everybody's mind even as the life sciences industry's flagship global event 'BioAsia' is all set to hit Hyderabad, which over the years has become one of India's life sciences 'hubs' and is fast emerging as the vaccine capital of the world.

Asia's largest life-sciences and healthcare event, 'BioAsia' is scheduled to be organized from Feb 24 to 25, 2022 in virtual mode, and will focus on future potential of pharma and life sciences sectors to make India future ready. More than 30,000 participants from across 70 countries are expected to participate in the event which is being held with the support of government of Telangana.

The 19th edition of the annual flagship programme is significant as the event is all set to focus on understanding the current position of the pharma and life sciences sectors in the country and to explore on future potential of the industry to make India future ready. Quite understandably, the organizers have designed an apt theme for this year's event 'future ready' as the deliberations will focus on the pandemic driven challenges and opportunities in the post Covid-19 world.

We have designed an apt theme for the event 'Future Ready' and accordingly lead experts from across the globe are expected to deliberate on the current challenges being faced by the pharma and life sciences industry and suggest steps and measures to make the industry future ready by adopting new approaches and by exploring available opportunities, said Shakthi Nagappan, CEO of BioAsia and Director of Life Sciences, government of Telangana.

BioAsia 2022 will host a panel discussion titled "Two years into the pandemic" focused on conversations on streamlining the healthcare delivery system, and highlighting equitable access to healthcare for the growth and recuperation of nations. The panel will also focus on how vaccine development and manufacturing can be accelerated globally using the learnings during this pandemic.

The panel discussion in the event will feature pioneers, innovators, leaders and policy makers like Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO); Dr Peter Piot, Director, EU Chief Scientific Advisor Epidemics; Dr Rajesh S Gokhale, Secretary, Dept of Biotechnology; Dr Krishna Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech; Ms. Mahima Datla, MD, Biological E; Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India; and Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, to name only a few.

This year's event is expected to witness leaders from across various industries; scientists from research institutions, innovation and start up firms; regulatory officials from various governments across the globe; and key policy makers. They are all expected to address wide range of issues touching healthcare, life sciences, pharma and allied subjects concerning the entire gamut of pharma and life sciences sectors.

The event will provide an opportunity to pharma, biotech companies, CROs, CMOs, CDMOs, biotech start-ups, academic institutions, scientists and researchers, policy makers and regulatory experts across the globe to assess the industry's current position and deliberate on the imperatives for future growth and other insightful topics related to the life sciences industry.

The two-day event is of great relevance in the wake of ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the burgeoning life sciences industry comprises drugs extracted or semi synthesized from biological sources like vaccines. This segment demonstrates immense potential as it involves the manufacture of hormones, insulin, blood products and vaccines which have become crucial components in the preemption, management and treatment of modern health conditions.

These complex drugs have been proven to perform remarkably well, offering high efficacy and few side effects. They also offer hope in cutting-edge medical sciences of regenerative medicine and disease remission.

(The author is freelance journalist with varied experience in different fields)