Charminar's biotech challenge: Hyderabad is hot on Bangalore's heels

Change Of DNA
Hyderabad plans to hardsell itself at the Bio Asia meet.
Charminar's biotech challenge: Hyderabad is hot on Bangalore's heels
Business Today

The title of biotech city so far belongs to Bangalore, simply because two of the best-known Indian companies in the sector, Biocon and Avestha Gengraine, are to be found here. That irks Bangalore's traditional rival Hyderabad-for good reason. Did you know, for example, that Hyderabad has about 16 companies in the bio-pharma space alone and close to half-a-dozen each in bio-agri and bio-informatics? Or that it boasts of not one, but three biotech parks (Shapoorji Pallonji's, an ICICI Knowledge Park and an Agri-Sciences'), while Bangalore has none?

Such little-known strengths of the city will be hard-sold at the Bio Asia meet, slated to be held between February 10 and 12. Already, two us biotech companies are close to setting up shop in the city of the Charminar. They are BioGenex, said to be a technology leader in molecular pathology, and Nasdaq-listed Albany Molecular Research Inc., a chemistry-based drug discovery and development company. Both will have facilities at the ICICI Knowledge Park.

Despite such credentials, Hyderabad may have a lot to learn from Bangalore. The most important is how to create a biotech ecosystem that's not limited to research companies, but includes suppliers and customers. Biotech needs diagnostics, bioinstrumentation, agri-biotics and equipment manufacturing. That's the reason why companies like Biocon prefer Bangalore over Hyderabad. The former, for instance, has at least 10 companies that can feed into biotech researchers. Biocon itself has at least half-a-dozen local "suppliers" and an equal number of big customers. But if Hyderabad's enthusiasm for Bio Asia is any indication, Bangalore had better hold tight its biotech crown.