ABLE’s 20th Anniversary: Realistic policies & regulations critical for bioeconomy to reach its pinnacle, says Kiran Shaw

Kiran was speaking at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) on April 07, 2023. The theme of the event was "India-A Resilient Global Biotech Destination."

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New Delhi: “Unlike digital technologies, the biotechnology industry has a long gestation period and actually requires venture capital support. We have seen how from the ideas to startups and finally the market commercialization has the involvement of VCs in the Western nations such as USA,” stated Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson, Biocon Limited.
Ms Shaw was speaking at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE) on April 07, 2023. The theme of the event was “India-A Resilient Global Biotech Destination.”
“The valuation of biotechnology shouldn’t dependent only on just the financial aspects but the innovation. The innovation should be the basis for investment and not just the revenue.  mRNA vaccine by Moderna happened because it had strong backing from the VCs. Similarly, BioNTech also got the VC funding to come up with its mRNA vaccine,” added Ms Shaw.
Emphasizing on the need for streamlined regulations, Biocon Chief who is also the Chairperson of ABLE, called on the policymakers to keep the revisit the obsolete policies and create better ones that enable the growth of the sector.
“The power of startups is going to be enormous, and VCs have to create a space for higher growth. While we appreciate the work done by BIRAC, now VCs must follow up. There is no doubt that bioeconomy will grow by the leaps and bounds but the policies must be realistic and growth oriented. The regulations must be relevant and shouldn’t stifle the growth,” mentioned Ms Shaw.
“India must be led by technology led growth as in the western countries. Unlike other nations, the best thing happening in India is that the young people are choosing the STEM unlike western nations. We must utilize the demographics power and leverage their multiplier effect.” she added.
“The bioeconomy will grow in a big way and ABLE is keen to work with govt to make it happen,” Ms Shaw concluded.
The event is also expected to witness the release of ABLE’s new logo and the book ‘Enablers of Indian Biotech’ by Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister for Science & Technology – Govt. of India.