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KOLKATA, Feb. 2

ERNST & Young (E&Y) has begun to explore opportunities in what it calls India's emerging "bio-economy''. It has teamed up with Nasdaq to help bio-entrepreneurs meet their goals.

E&Y, which has already established a biotech group within its organisational set-up, is looking at the possibility of developing entry strategies and promoting joint ventures for its clients. Besides, it is seeking to play a role in working out technology tie-ups and mobilising venture capital.

E&Y's efforts in biotech comprise, among others, `Opportunia', a Web-based initiative in collaboration with Nasdaq (which has an India office in Bangalore) and CSIR. Its biotech group has proceeded on two fronts. One, it has tried to assist private entrepreneurs.

Two, it has collaborated with the Andhra Pradesh Government for developing the biotech sector.

According to an E&Y analysis, the Indian biotech industry is very much in the nascent stage of growth.

The research and development done here is largely restricted to Government laboratories; the private sector's exposure to R&D is still limited.

While there is a fundamental understanding of the science and no shortage of skilled personnel, Indian biotech companies continue to operate at the lower end of the value chain. At the same time, the bio-economy is characterised by a number of positive factors.

These factors range from the country's vast biodiversity and the strong pharma/IT base to its enabling regulations and Government initiatives. All this, it is expected, will help India become a leading name in the global biotech scenario.

In future, indicates the E&Y vision, the domestic industry could well be an international production base, with products created for the global economy from local bio-resources.

The international biotech industry, marked as it is by "a convergence of pharmaceutical, medical device and health care services companies'', is reaching critical mass, it is pointed out. Entrepreneurs may seek to leverage on this convergence through a variety of means — strategic alliances, joint ventures, spin-offs.

As for its own role, E&Y is said to be playing a leading role in many biotech markets. It has also catered to roughly one-third of the world's biotech companies, including over 50 life science outfits that sought to tap the primary capital market.

The E&Y review mentions that investors put in an unprecedented $36.8 billion in the biotech industry in 2000.

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