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Bangalore to host biotech meet in April

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, Feb. 23

BANGALORE will host a three-day national biotechnology conference, Bangalore Bio.com 2001, from April 15. The conference will be organised by the Vision Group on Biotechnology, constituted by the Karnataka Government, and by the Trade Fairs and Conferenc es International.

The event would focus on issues such as bioinformatics, healthcare, patents, intellectual property rights (IPR) and policies of the State Governments. Speakers from various biotech segments in India and abroad are expected to participate in the event, sa id Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell, Member, Vision Group on Biotechnology. The State Government is likely to announce its biotechnology policy on February, 24.

The event would also feature the management aspects, including market trends and forecasts, besides approach to maximise return on investment in the new biotech era. The second and third days would mainly cover technology and venture capital topics, she said.

Over 20 companies have confirmed their participation in the event, which is likely to attract over 1,000 delegates from all over the world.

The event will be purely a business-to-business affair, enabling companies to interact with each other, said organisers of the event.

Dr Joseph Thomas, an advisor at Spic's Biotechnology division, said only recently the biological institutions and Indian corporates have started to work closely. Earlier, both were working in isolation, due to lack of networking, he said.

``Biotechnology development would help reduce use of pesticides, claimed to be used over 50 per cent in cotton fields, and create a cleaner environment,'' he said.

The Indian biotech market size is around $2.5 billion, and is expected to touch $4.5 billion by 2010, said event organisers.