Branding biotech

Call it an attempt to attract foreign direct investments and big global investors or an exercise in branding to gain visibility. The Andhra government has in its pocket a trademark for Genome Valley, a notified area near Hyderabad that houses biotech related companies and institutions, and that is meant to promote such activities.

Genome Valley has just been issued a registration certificate for the certification mark (Intellectual Property Rights) by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), headquartered in Virginia, Alexandria, us. It had also been granted a community trademark (Intellectual Property Rights) in the European Union in 2005. The state industries and commerce department is now the authorised user of the certification mark. This, local officials say, is a major milestone for the state government to promote Genome Valley in the US and Europe.

Genome Valley, spread over 600 sq. km, has so far (in the last three years) attracted committed investments to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore. The figure excludes standalone investments by local companies in the region. In all, there are around 100 companies operating in this region other than a natural cluster for biotech research, training, collaboration and manufacturing facilities. "Over the next five years, we expect to see additional investments to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore in this region," says Raveen K. Reddy, Additional Secretary (Industries and Commerce) and Director (Biotechnology), government of Andhra Pradesh. So far, some of the major foreign companies that have committed investments in Genome Valley include DuPont, Albany Molecular and Nektar Therapeutics. DuPont, for instance, plans to invest Rs 300-500 crore. State officials expect majors like Novartis to also invest to the tune of Rs 300 crore here.

Then there's the proposed Institute for Translational Research (ITR), billed as the second such research centre in the world to focus on areas of biological research like cell biology, developmental biology, stem cell biology and cancer biology. For this, the Planning Commission has accorded in-principle approval to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to set up this world-class translational research centre along with a dedicated medical school and hospital. The CSIR has entrusted the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology to set up the ITR with an estimated budget of Rs 1,000 crore over five years starting from 2007-08; the initial outlay in the 11th Five-Year Plan will be Rs 300 crore.