The Hon’ble Minister of Industries KT Rama Rao today unveiled several new projects in Genome Valley to the tune of Rupees 800 Crores. The new projects are of varied nature, viz. biosimilars manufacturing, advanced pharma and biotech R&D, formulation manufacturing and integrated turnkey lab spaces for high-tech research, signifying the large breadth of capabilities present in Genome Valley, which has emerged as Asia’s largest high innovation and life sciences cluster.
The Hyderabad based GeneSys Biologics, a specialty biotech company engaged in R&D of advanced biosimilars also announced the inauguration of their state-of-the-art biotechnology manufacturing facility in Genome Valley. With capabilities of integrated drug development for Insulin/Insulin Analogues biosimilars from R&D to commercial manufacturing, the company has achieved a remarkable feat by building a pipeline of 6 insulin biosimilars molecules within a short period of 3 years. Cumulative global sales of such molecules is estimated to be more than US$ 30 billion.
The Hon’ble minister congratulated the entire GeneSys team on their achievement and quoted “Biosimilars are expected to be the next big growth segment within the biopharma industry due to their enhanced capabilities in healthcare and patient safety. Given the extraordinary strengths of Telangana in vaccines and pharmaceuticals, we have taken various initiatives focused on accelerating biologics and biosimilars development as part of the Genome Valley 2.0 Vision. I am thrilled to see companies like Genesys Biologics pursuing this opportunity aggressively.” GeneSys plans to deploy around INR 350 Crores overall in their facility which will see a 10 to 20 fold increase in their output and lead to large scale direct employment opportunities for highly skilled workforce.
Dr. Pankaj Bhai Patel, Chairman of Cadila Healthcare a leading Indian company graced the occasion on the launch. Dr Patel said, “Representing the Scientific community, I am delighted to see a high tech cluster such as Genome Valley. Genesys shows a lot of promise and potential and they are at the right place to grow their operations.”
In another major boost to the Genome Valley cluster, the fastest growing Canadian generic drug manufacturer (40% annual growth) JAMP Pharma will be setting up its biggest center of excellence for R&D and manufacturing of export quality drug formulations and will invest around INR 250 Crores with generation of 2,000 direct jobs over the next 24 months.
Gracing the occasion of the Company’s Ground Breaking ceremony, Monsieur Louis Pilon, Global President and CEO of Jamp Pharma Corporation met Hon’ble Minister of Industries and Commerce, K. T Rama Rao. Hon’ble Minister assured him of complete support of the State Authorities and requested Monsieur Pilon to consider scaling up Jamp Pharma’s operations in Hyderabad gradually, introducing a larger product share of the company’s portfolio including cutting-edge R&D activities. Dr. Dutta, Chief Scientific Officer of Jamp Pharma said, “The decision to set up a state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing facility of Jamp Pharma Corporation was taken on November 2017 and after a global hunt for a suitable place for setting up of the facility, Hyderabad was selected, being the Capital of Pharmaceutical Industry and discussions were initiated with the Life Science Team of the Govt of Telangana. I am happy to inform you that within three months’ time the entire process has been completed seamlessly and in a hassle free manner, as we are accustomed to do in US or Canada”. Global President and CEO Mr. Louis Pilon said, “Availability of talent and world class infrastructure supported by Government’s commitment in the sector were the key reasons of choosing Hyderabad. We are committed to build a world class facility generating new jobs and usher development.”
Among other launches were Laxai Life Sciences, a Genome Valley based custom biotech and pharma R&D also inaugurated its new 50,000 square feet facility in Genome Valley with state-of-the-art German R&D infrastructure, which will cater to development of novel small molecules, biologics and custom pharma services for US and European companies. The company to its credit has already delivered 4 clinical candidates to the U.S and European markets in the areas of oncology, cardiology, CNS and metabolic disorders. Also, the foundation stone was laid for Touchstone Square, an integrated and collaborative R&D park through proposed investment of INR 150 Crores. The park will feature a built up area of over 270,000 square feet spread across turnkey lab spaces, incubation facilities, specialized offices, pilot plant spaces for life sciences R&D and high innovation activities.
The Hon’ble Minister also briefed the scientific and entrepreneurial diaspora present at the venue about the State Government’s Vision of Genome Valley 2.0. Surbana Jurong, Singapore (planners for world class clusters like Biopolis, One North Cluster) have been engaged to develop an integrated regional master plan for Genome Valley. The master plan will focus on boosting the local economic development, growing on the anchor life sciences landscape, and adding a larger influence area for nurturing industry ready knowledge and skilling initiatives. Genome Valley as a high functioning satellite town of Hyderabad will ensure a live-work-learn-create-environment for high qualified professionals, in an integrated social environment. Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan quoted, “These launches are a wonderful value addition to the Genome Valley Ecosystem which already hosts leading North American and European majors. State Government is focused to make Hyderabad as a global hub for Life sciences sector.”
