KTR Vows to Make Telangana The Knowledge Capital of World’s Life Sciences Industry

Telangana MAUD KT Rama Rao addressed delegates and guests at the 20th edition of BioAsia 2023 Convention in Hyderabad.

Here are excerpts from his speech...

Good Morning Everyone!  

To all the remarkable guests who have traveled from various parts of the world, including esteemed representatives from the fields of science and technology, industry leaders, media colleagues, and other distinguished individuals I extend a grand Welcome to Bio Asia 2023 in Hyderabad, the lifesciences capital of the Asia!

It is an incredible moment and an equally exciting opportunity for me to be addressing you all, in-person, after a long gap of two years. I take pride and joy in reminding all of you that this is the 20th Edition of Bio Asia. 

I humbly acknowledge the growth of BioAsia and I must say it has consistently played a crucial role in the development of Life Sciences industry in Telangana and India. This outstanding platform has consistently attracted a galaxy of healthcare, pharma, and Lifesciences leaders from more than 100 countries. 

Distinguished guests, I am happy to note that this year’s theme is “Advancing for ONE: Shaping the next generation of humanized healthcare.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved the value of collaboration and its impact on people’s wellbeing, when the world came together to overcome one of humanity’s greatest healthcare challenges. Hence, the theme Advancing for One to celebrate the spirit of collaboration and promoting human prosperity.

The state of Telangana has been a frontrunner in identifying the importance of life sciences, pharma and of course the development of holistic healthcare. With our vision to develop, promote and propagate an enabling ecosystem, we are proud to state that Hyderabad is the only city in the country that has an ever-growing Genome Valley, an expanding Medtech Park and an upcoming Pharma City, which will be the world’s largest.

This state-of-the-art infrastructure, combined with progressive policies and proactive execution on the part of the government, has not only distinguished us as a progressive state, but also enhanced our share and contribution to positive health outcome nationally and globally. 

 If you remember we had set out a vision of doubling our ecosystem value to $100 billion by 2030. A lot of people felt that it was too ambitious. I am pleased to announce that the ecosystem value has already touched USD 80 bn in 2022. This represents a phenomenal ecosystem value growth in Telangana at a mindboggling 23% over the last two years compared to the national average of about 14%. 

Given the current momentum, I am confident that we will achieve our target of USD 100 Bn by 2025 itself, five years ahead of schedule. I commend and thank all the stakeholders who have come together to make this happen.

The growth is evident from the fact that we have been able to attract net new investment of more than $ 3 bn over the last 7 years.  During the same period, we have created a total employment of more than 4.5 lakh jobs. 

Our ultimate aim is to make Telangana, the knowledge capital of the world’s life sciences industry. A key component of this is the growth of the lifesciences services sector. We already serve more than 1000 lifesciences companies globally, including the top 10 pharma companies, in their innovation journey.

This is being done through the cutting-edge work being executed by R&D and technology partners like Aragen, Sai, Syngene, Deloitte, Accenture, Tech Mahindra, among many others. I am delighted that 4 of the top 10 global innovator companies now have a direct presence in Hyderabad through their dedicated centers. These centers drive core R&D, digital and engineering activities, thereby contributing to bringing lifesaving cost-effective therapies and devices to patients world-wide. 

Today, we have established our stature as the world’s pre-eminent lifesciences destination, but I don’t want us to stop here. 

One of my idols Nelson Mandela once said, “No matter where you are in life, there is more journey ahead”. 

We have a unique opportunity to help reshape the future of the lifesciences industry. We need to dream BIG. I envision that by 2030, the value of the lifesciences ecosystem will cross $ 250 bn. 

There are four pillars that will help us achieve this audacious target. 

PILLAR 1: Complex manufacturing at scale

Telangana contributes 40 percent of India’s Pharma production and is home to more than 1000 Life Sciences companies and we are growing. We are the only region in the world to have more than 200 FDA approved sites for pharmaceutical manufacturing which produce both innovator and generic medicines. Our capability will be further strengthened with the launch of Hyderabad Pharma City, which is the world’s largest and sustainable integrated pharma park. While we are continuing to build on our strengths in small molecules, we have also started to make giant leap towards advanced therapeutic modalities.

Hyderabad has been leading biological production in the country with its key players like Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Biological E, Bharat Biotech, Shantha Biotech, Aurobindo, Hetero, Gland Pharma and Virchow Biotech. We are working on establishing Biopharma Hub (B-hub), which is a first-of-its-kind Growth-Phase Center and Biopharma Scale-up Manufacturing facility in India.  

We are also making investments in the Cell and Gene Therapy space and are working towards establishing an Institute of Curative Medicine in Hyderabad with the aim to provide affordable development and commercialization of the new age curative therapies (particularly cell and gene therapy) for disease pertinent to India. 

PILLAR 2: R&D and Innovation

Hyderabad is regarded as the epicenter for drug discovery and development services in Asia. The capital city of Hyderabad offers one of the best State-supported business ecosystems in the country with significant focus on life sciences. We have all the requisite elements of relatively low costs of doing business, more than 3 million square feet of multi-tenanted facilities in Genome Valley, abundant supply of skilled / semi-skilled manpower, leading academic institutions and research centers. 

Thanks to such a fertile environment, Hyderabad has become home to the largest number of Indian and multinational Pharmaceutical Research Service Organizations offering services ranging from medicinal chemistry, discovery biology, pre-clinical, clinical, drug development and clinical trial product manufacturing. Today, almost every big pharma company and over a hundred biotechs use these CROs’ services – and it is safe to say that a significant percentage of current and future NCE approvals originate in Hyderabad. As you can see, we are the most preferred R&D destination today!

PILLAR 3: Building High-end, cross value chain GCCs: 

Hyderabad is emerging as a most preferred location for Life sciences focused Global capability centers (GCCs).  Today, I am delighted to welcome leading companies like BMS and Sanofi to the vibrant ecosystem of Hyderabad, who will now be joining the illustrious list of companies like Novartis, Bayer, Medtronic, Thermofisher, Schrodinger etc. These GCCs drive and support key R&D, Analytics, Innovation and engineering teams globally.  Over the next five years we will position Hyderabad as a high-end GCC destination for the world’s leading Life sciences companies.  These efforts will help expand our knowledge capital beyond manufacturing to other parts of the life sciences value chain. Outstanding infrastructure, great standard of living and access to world class talent will help us deliver on this promise.

PILLAR 4: Convergence of healthcare and technology 

Technology has the potential to transform lives.  The use of technology and the advent of AI will drive transformative changes in the way diseases are diagnosed and Healthcare is delivered to patients across the world.  If we combine the engineering and product talent we have at large technology companies in Hyderabad, along with the deep lifesciences domain knowledge, the possibilities are endless.   

I hereby announce that we will work on a program to position Hyderabad as the “HEALTH-TECH Mecca” of the world.  Through our various incubator programs, and access to deep computing resources, we will actively support startups that drive the convergence of Healthcare and Technology.  I am confident that we will have a few global HEALTH-TECH unicorns that will emerge out of this program.

These 4 pillars combined with Hyderabad’s excellent infrastructure, logistics connectivity, and world-class talent, make this city perhaps the most credible, stable and secure ecosystems for Global Life Sciences companies to work out of, especially in the post-covid world of uncertainty. Case in point is how, during the covid pandemic, this city’s ecosystem came together to deliver an absolutely uninterrupted supply of covid and non-covid medicines and vaccines to the entire world.

IT & Industries Minister @KTRBRS speaking after inaugurating 20th edition of @BioAsiaOfficial in Hyderabad https://t.co/gYF41JHkYi

— Minister for IT, Industries, MA & UD, Telangana (@MinisterKTR) February 24, 2023

Our ultimate vision through building these four pillars is to play a significant part in advancing the quality of human lives world-wide. And we can only do it if we bring forth the spirit of collaboration. Hence, theme of BioAsia 2023 “Advancing for one” couldn’t be more relevant.  

Dear guests, as I draw my address towards conclusion, I once again commend the participation and commitment of various life sciences and pharma stakeholders. It has always been a privilege to be among you and participate in deliberations and discussions, interactive and enlightening sessions, all directed and driven towards intensifying collaborations, and working towards innovations in healthcare at scale. 

I am sure this memorable 20th edition of BioAsia will open new opportunities for all of you, where over the next 3 days, you will find ample opportunities to hear from global thought leaders. I am certain that this event will also give you the scope to expand your networks and script new professional & personal growth stories.

I thank my team and all those who have made this event possible and successful.

I wish you a great and memorable stay in Telangana and wish you an extremely successful BioAsia!