Hyderabad, 25th February 2025 – The 22nd edition of BioAsia 2025, Asia’s largest life sciences and healthcare conference, themed ‘Catalysts of Change – Expanding Global Healthcare Frontiers, Transforming Healthcare with Innovation, Collaboration and Progress’ was inaugurated by Mr. A Revanth Reddy, Hon’ble CM of Telangana, Dr. Jeannette Young, Hon’ble Governor of Queensland, and Mr D Sridhar Babu, Hon’ble Minister for Industries and Commerce, Government of Telangana along with other dignitaries.
Speaking at the event, Mr. A Revanth Reddy, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana said “BioAsia over the years has helped position Hyderabad as the global Life Sciences capital of the country. This event is of great significance and will help position India as an important player in the growth of the healthcare sector. The city of Hyderabad has a long history of excellence in healthcare, biosciences, life sciences, pharma, bulk drugs, generics, contract manufacturing and biotech industries. We are excited to host Bio Asia today. We will develop Hyderabad and Telangana into one of the largest ecosystems for biosciences, biotech and life sciences innovation, R&D, manufacturing, skill development, and investment. We are the number 1 state which has attracted both domestic and foreign investment. We have the lowest inflation rate and are creating employment opportunities in the state of Telangana. We already have 160 Km ORR and we are building a Regional Ring Road of 360 KM outside the core urban area along with a network of radial roads connecting the two ring roads with radial roads and creating manufacturing hubs for pharma, EVs data centres, green energy, seed manufacturing, agri-processing and other sectors. We are developing 10 pharma Villages between ORR and RRR which will generate over 5 lakh jobs. The Green Pharma city is also a key initiative under the Future City Project and is progressing rapidly. We have already signed 6 MOUs and signing another 11 MOUs today creating more jobs for the youth. We are all set to launch a new Life Sciences Policy which will chart a bold new growth trajectory for the sector. With this, we will enter new domains such as cell and gene therapy, genomics, biologics, precision medicine, peptides, digital innovation, advanced R&D and complex manufacturing.”
Mr. Sridhar Babu, Minister for Industries and Commerce, Government of Telangana, said: “The BioAsia has been built over the past 2 decades as a culmination of excellence and it has become a cornerstone for the healthcare and sciences industry. For the past 12 months, we have witnessed a huge surge of investment from several international and domestic companies who have chosen Telangana as the gateway to India which is rapidly growing in terms of the life sciences ecosystem. From Pharma manufacturing and R&D centres to GCCS innovation hubs. We have witnessed several global life sciences companies open operations in the city and have created more than 51,000 direct jobs and 1,50,000 indirect jobs over here. We inaugurated Amgen’s largest innovation centre yesterday along with Miltenyi, a cutting-edge cell and gene therapy centre. As we look to the future, our focus remains steadfast on skilling and workforce development. We have established a skills university Young India Skills University which will focus on covering this gap. A key pillar in this mission is to establish a life sciences university which is progressing rapidly to equip the Hyderabad workforce with industry-relevant expertise. By collaborating closely with GCC Hyderabad we are designing a specialised curriculum in science and technology ensuring our talent remains globally competitive and Future-ready. I am delighted to share that the first batch of the chemistry skill programme successfully concluded this month. We are determined to insert Telangana into the global Pharma supply chain as a key player in terms of Bulk drug and also in generic pharma and be a world leader in the life sciences space”
The inaugural day also featured four insightful panel discussions. The session on AI Transformation in Healthcare brought together eminent speakers, including Dr. Ken Washington, CTO, Medtronic; Dr. Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman and Founder, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG); Dr Shyam Bishen, Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare; Dr. Olga Kubassova, President, Image Analysis Group (IAG); and Dr. Ricardo Gaminha Pacheco, Director, Insilico Medicine.
The second-panel discussion, ‘Unleashing the Tiger: The Indian CRDMO Sector,’ featured industry leaders such as Peter Bains, CEO Designate, Syngene; Manni Kantipudi, CEO, Aragon Lifesciences; Krishna Kanumuri, Managing Director & CEO, Sai Lifesciences; Nandini Piramal, Chairperson, Piramal Pharma Ltd; Ramesh Subramaniam, CEO, PI Health Sciences; Guilano Perfetti, Managing Director & CEO, Jubilant Biosys; and Akhil Ravi, CEO, Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services.
Additionally, the panel on ‘Innovations Shaping the Future of the Global Life Sciences Landscape’ featured distinguished speakers such as Dr. Shekar Mande, Former Director General, CSIR; Dr. Boris Stoffel, Managing Director, Miltenyi Biotec; Christian Jones, Chief Commercial Officer, Nanoform; Nitin Dharmadhikari, Chief Operating Officer, SPARC; Sandhya Sreepathy, Novartis Biomedical Research Head; and Dr. Anil Kaul, Vice President & Head, Global Public Health Discovery, Johnson & Johnson.
In the last panel of the day, Strengthening the Global Bioeconomy and Transforming Human Health Through Generative Biology (in collaboration with the World Economic Forum), key insights were shared by Dr. Toon Overstijns, CEO, of Miltenyi Biomedicine; Dr. Marinna Madrid, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Cellino Biotec; Dr. K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Limited; Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director and CEO, Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd; Prof. Ullas S Kolthur, Director, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics; and Sai Prasad, Executive Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd.
Lastly, a high-profile CEO Conclave, titled ‘India’s Century: Leading the Global Innovation Charge in Life Sciences,’ also took place, featuring distinguished speakers, including Dr. S. Somanath, Former Chairman, ISRO; G.V. Prasad, Co-Chairman & Managing Director, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories; Dr. Satyanarayana Chava, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Laurus Labs; Cesar Concepcion, Chief Commercial Officer, APMA Region, Novartis; and Winslow Tucker, President and General Manager, Lilly India, USA.
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