National Biopharma Mission – Explained in detail

What is National Biopharma Mission?

The mission was launched by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology which is the first Industry Academic mission which is started to push the development of Biopharma in India. The mission was launched on 30th June, 2017 in New Delhi. The mission was approved by the Cabinet Committee of Economics Affairs in a meeting which was held on 17th May, 2017.

Another mission known as the i3 or the Innovate in India program is also launched under this mission who will provide an environment for entrepreneurship and encourage natives in the manufacturing sector. The Empowering biotech entrepreneurship and accelerating inclusive innovation mission will be implemented in the country with an aggregate cost amounting to Rs. 1500 Crore for a period of five years. For the implementation of the mission, 50 per cent of the amount shall be brought into the country from the World Bank.

Why was National Biopharma Mission Launched?

India has been working hard in providing and developing the life saving medicines and other related products. The country also provides these medicines and pharmaceutical produces at reasonable or affordable prices. But the development is limited as the country is still lacking behind from many developed countries such as Korea, China, etc.

These countries give a very strong competition to India and therefore India finds it difficult to counter them. Therefore the National Biopharma Mission is launched to make India a hub of Biopharma materials and equipment’s which shall promote the growth of the country and also raise the quality of Infrastructure of the country.

The country lacks behind other developed country due to lack of resources in this field, lack of man power with adequate skills and experience, no or hardly any platform available for research and development, and no financial assistance.
Therefore, with all these backwardness the country needs a well developed platform to encourage the development of infrastructure for promoting research and development, and innovating new ideas for making effective and affordable Biopharma products.

Aim of Biopharma Mission

The aim of the mission is to make advancements in the field of biopharmaceutical and to make it a competitive market in global level in the next ten years.

Objectives of the National Biopharma Mission

• Public Health: The scheme focus on developing those products which are needed for the development of public health and life cycle.
• Facilitate Infrastructural Development: One of the most important objects of this mission is to facilitate infrastructural development by strengthening and establishing a common infrastructure for validating product discovery and manufacturing.
• Development of Human Resource: The mission provides special training to people who are competent to work under this scheme with skills. They are thought to formulate business plans and market penetration.
• Technological Transfer: One of the objects of the mission is to facilitate technological transfer for enhancing management capacities and skills along with intellectual property management and other potentials in both public and private sector.

Mission of the Biopharma Mission

• The mission is about the industry academia development which shall in turn give a momentum to the development of biopharmaceutical in the country.
• The implementation of mission will be done by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) that is a public sector undertaking of the department of Biotechnology.
• The mission of the Ministry is to launch another program under this mission. Such program shall be called the Innovate in India which will formulate an environment which shall promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.
• The Innovate in India program is brought up with a partnership with the World Bank.
• The mission is motivated to transform India into a country which will provide for the development of affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and their solutions.

Focus of the Mission

The primary focus of the mission will be on the development and creation of new vaccines, bio therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices which will reduce the ill effects o f diseases prevailing in the country.

The mission will bring those sections which works individually together. This will bring out the best of their abilities. It will encourage regional capabilities and will make the current network stronger. They will become strong in terms of their capabilities, quality and quantity of the output.

Innovate in India Program

Innovate in India is a program for which funds are raised from the World Bank. Therefore, the program is said to be in collaboration with the World Bank. The program is launched to transform India into a country in which makes affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions available for the welfare of the people.

The program is intended to raise the growth of the native industries related to the Biopharma which will be done by accelerating the research and development in the field.
The ultimate aim of the program is to provide a sustainable network between the industry and academia for supporting an entrepreneurial environment.

The budget of the program will be around dollar 250 million of which dollar 150 million will be supplied by the World Bank as a loan to the country of uplifting its Biopharma developments. According to this data the country’s global Biopharma market will rise from existing 2.8 per cent to 5 per cent. This growing trend will generate more business opportunity of around Dollar 16 billion.

The basic feature of the program is to promote innovations and provide infrastructure for promoting discovering and offer new entrepreneurs best facilities in the industry.

National Biopharma Mission and the World Bank

The Government of India has successfully secured a loan from the World Bank. The amount of the loan is Rs. 1600 Crore which shall be used for the purpose of development of new vaccines, medical devices, drugs, medicines and related products.

The money which is allotted for the mission shall be distributed over five years and shall be the part of the Biotechnology led National Biopharma mission.
The mission is determined to formulate around 6 to 10 new products in the next five years which shall also promote job creation in the country.

Advantages of the National Biopharma Mission

• India’s Capacities: The aim of the mission is to develop an environment for uplifting the products and technological capacity of the country in the field of biopharmaceutical. This development will enable the country to compete with other developed countries. The mission will make India to reach and counter the competition within a decade.
• Health Standard: The Mission will improve the health standards of the citizen of the country by providing them with adequate drugs at affordable rates. These drugs then become accessible to all citizen of the country.
• Infrastructure for Development: a country can never develop without inadequate infrastructure and therefore the mission supports the development of infrastructure in research and development of Biopharma and related products.
• Job Creation: With the launching of this mission and establishing a well equipped infrastructure, the country will be in need of human resources and this need will result in creation of jobs in the country. Unemployment is one of the major problems of India and creating additional job with the existing ones is boon to the situation.
• More Output: The output generated under this mission will be more than the output of Biopharma products which the country was getting previously. The mission shall consolidate all the isolated units together and when they will work together, than the output shall automatically increase.

Importance of the National Biopharma Mission

• Accelerating Research: The scheme intents to accelerate research which will in turn raise the entire product development. The scheme provides strength and also supports the development of the product.
• Development of Product: The scheme not just develop the products for the benefit of public health but it also helps in developing continuous development of various kinds of products for the welfare of the people.
• Specific Products: Various specific products such as vaccines, diagnosis equipment’s, medicals devices, etc. are also covered in this scheme. The scheme works for development and creation of these specific products for welfare of the citizen.
• Infrastructure: India needs to develop its infrastructure to stand abreast with other developed country and the National Biopharma Mission facilitates development of infrastructure and other related facilities.
• Technology Transfer: The mission also facilitates technology transfer in both private as well as in the public sector. The mission helps in the development of specific skills and knowledge which is essential for fulfilling the aims of the mission. While developing such skills and knowledge, they also get transferred from one person to another and this enhances skills and knowledge of others also. It works like a chain in which the skills and knowledge are transferred from one person to another.