The theme ‘Impacting the Biotech Innovation Ecosystem’ aptly reflected the Fifth Foundation Day of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) that was celebrated recently.
YS Chowdary, Minister of State for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, presided over the function that was attended by a large number of dignitaries from the scientific and industry sectors both from the country and oversees.
Speaking at the inauguration, Chowdary said, “Research and innovation have been the key areas that the Prime Minister and this government have focused on. BIRAC, which has completed five years today, stands at the cusp of a great leap. Globally, BIRAC has been hailed as one of the most effective government measures to create an enabling environment for research and development to flourish in a country. We aim to develop India into a global innovation hub by 2020 and BIRAC has paved the way to deliver on that mandate.”
BIRAC supports entrepreneurs and start-ups at different stages of innovation from the ideation stage to managing intellectual property rights and finally to the commercialisation of products. Different initiatives of BIRAC target different stages of the innovation ecosystem from ideation stages to proof-of-concept and late stage validation to product development. BIRAC has nine flagship schemes that are supported by funding from the Department of Biotechnology, and manages seven collaboratively funded programmes with international partners, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nesta, the Wellcome Trust and USAID, among others. Social innovation is a key focus for affordable and accessible product development.
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