BioAsia 2007 to feature new modules

BioAsia, Asia's premier biotechnology event, will be held in Hyderabad from February 15 to 17, 2007.

The event is being jointly organised by the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA), the Andhra Pradesh government and the University of Hyderabad with support from the European Federation of Biotechnology.

"The success of the earlier three editions of BioAsia has given Hyderabad, and Andhra Pradesh as a whole, a tremendous impetus to become the biotech capital of the country. To take this success forward, we have included some interesting modules in BioAsia 2007," BP Acharya, organising committee member of BioAsia, told mediapersons here recently.

A special session titled 'Bio-business opportunities' will feature prominent venture capitalists and technology transfer advisers, who will share their experiences with the entrepreneurial community on making business ideas a reality and the various funding options that are available.

Besides, in partnership with Technology Vision Group LLC, a Business Forum, which will have one-to-one meetings for collaborations, strategic alliances, business development and outsourcing would also be organsied, he said.

"The business forum of BioAsia 2006 had over 80 B2B meetings, of which 40 were foreign companies. We expect close to 100 such meetings during this year's event," he added.

The Genome Valley Excellence Award, an annual award constituted to recognise outstanding efforts of scientists in the life sciences sector, will be conferred on G Padmanabhan for his contribution in the areas of transcriptional regulation of malarial drug metabolising genes in liver, mechanism of chloroquine action and its resistance in the parasite, during this year's event.

"This year, we are also launching the FABA BioAsia Innovation Award 2007, which is aimed at promoting creativity and innovation among young scientists. The award will carry a citation and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh," he said.

The three-day event is expected to attract over 70 exhibitors, 800 conference delegates, 40 internationally-acclaimed speakers and over 3,000 trade visitors from across the globe, including representatives of the 15 member countries of FABA such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, China and Thailand.