Monday, Feb 08, 2010
Biotechnology a major driver of the technological world, says scientist

• “DST has agreed to provide Rs.10 crore for the next phase of CBST’s project”
• VIT University has helped to set up centre for bioseparation technology with DST support

Vellore: There is tremendous pressure across the world on biotechnology to deliver quality healthcare products at affordable cost, said V.S. Ramamurthy, Director, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.

Inaugurating the four-day International Symposium on ‘Gene to Vial Concept for Biotechnology-Based Health Care Molecules’ organised by the Centre for Bioseparation Technology (CBST) of the VIT University on the VIT campus here on Sunday, Prof. Ramamurthy said that biotechnology has been a major driver of the technological world. It has given a window of opportunities and challenges. It was thought earlier that only the rich could access the modern health products given by biotechnology, but later they became affordable to the poor as well. For instance, the Hepatitis-B vaccine which originally cost Rs.700 is now available at Rs.50 per dose. “Biotechnology is seen as a route for better healthcare. Healthcare is not only the aspiration of every human being, but everyone wants to have quality healthcare at low cost. Therefore vaccine is required by everyone, and should be made available at a cheaper cost", he said. G. Viswanathan, Chancellor of VIT University, said that the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the has agreed to provide Rs.10 crore for the next phase of the project to be taken up by the CBST. He called for a harmonious interaction between academic centres, industry and regulatory agencies to develop extraordinary biotechnology products with the objective of taking biotechnology research from bench to bedside. A country such as India has a huge potential for developing various biotechnology products for our growing population and to sustain economic progress. Our country faces myriad health problems which include prosperity diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and poor man’s diseases such as infectious diseases which include malaria, tuberculosis and dengue fever. A comparison of investments in the healthcare industry between India and developed countries show a drastic difference as the cost effectiveness in India is significant. With this deliberation, a number of foreign companies are exploring opportunities in India to meet the challenges in collaboration with academia and Indian industrial partners.

The VIT University, he said, has been a pioneer in encouraging basic and applied research. The university has helped to set up an advanced research centre for bioseparation technology with DST support. This has set up a platform for youngsters to take up scientific research as their career and to serve in biotechnology industry. The VIT Chancellor said that the main pre-requisite to conduct scientific research to develop biotechnology products in the well-educated and trained manpower in various areas of production, processing and validation.

“The multi-disciplinary approach in research with high level scientific quality in CBST will enrich the scientific research at VIT University. This University is keen to invest in bringing about academic and industry collaboration which will enable the country to develop and provide quality healthcare products to people,” he said.

Gideon Fleminger of Tel-Aviv University, Israel and Xavier Santarelli of ENSTBB, Bordeaux, France, Prof. Vijayalakshmi, Director of CBST, spoke.