.Asian
Initiative on Biotechnology
by Ashraf Tanvir, Director Scientific Information, NARC Islamabad
Published in "The News" Rawalpindi / Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi on May 23, 2005
The advent of the year 2005
witnessed a new thaw in the Indo-Pak relations opening up avenues of
collaboration in the scientific and technological field in addition to (front
and back channel) diplomatic activities going on for the past few years. The
area in focus was biotechnology - a front line technology of the 21st century.
The occasion was launching of
Federation of Asian Biotechnology Associations (FABA) at the BioAsia 2005 summit
in Hyderabad (India). Dr. Anwar Nasim, Chairman, National Commission on
Biotechnology/ Adviser (Science), COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad was elected as
founding President of FABA. The main objective of FABA is to promote the
development of biotechnology by creating a common platform among the member
countries, which include Pakistan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Israel,
Philippines and Sri Lanka. The organisation to start has independent chapters in
the eight member countries and the secretariat of FABA would be located in
Hyderabad (India). FABA would establish just and equitable principles of
participation and practice among member countries.
The BioAsia 2005 summit was
attended by 75 eminent scientists and business leaders from more than 30
countries with diverse backgrounds who presented and exchanged views on issues
like IPRs, contract research and clinical trials, agri-biotechnology, public -
private sector partnership, vaccines to new paradigms in phytoceuticals etc.
Dr. Anwar Nasim on this occasion
said that the eight-member federation’s objective was to promote and safeguard
the interest of biotechnology as a science, encourage entrepreneurship, academia
and collaboration with industry. National chapters of FABA have been facilitated
in Iran, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand. FABA will have a 25-member managing
committee. Dr. B.S. Bajaj, Chairman, All India Biotech Association (AIBA),
southern chapter, will be its first Secretary General.
The biotech sector in Pakistan is
still in a nascent stage and the government has little option but to depend on
Western countries for its medical needs. To encourage cost-cuttings and increase
the domestic production of biotech products, firms in Pakistan are scouting for
technology transfer pacts with the Hyderabad-based biotech companies.
There are only a few pharma firms
in this business in Pakistan. In fact, the government of Pakistan and the
private sector are entirely depending on foreign firms and UNICEF for their
domestic biological and vaccine needs. Now private sector firms are in the
process of entering into strategic tie-ups with other international firms,
including Indian biotech firms, to develop the vaccine production sector. Health
biotechnology is the largest segment in the biotech sector. In Pakistan there is
a public sector facility at NIH, Islamabad and a private sector facility engaged
in formulation and processing of a few vaccines and biologicals.
It has also been learnt that the
Pakistan government has recently released a list of 150 finished products that
can be imported. At present Indian origin finished vaccines, pharma and
biologicals are banned items for import. This is quite strange as raw material
can be imported for all types of pharma products. Three Pakistani firms have
already signed MoUs with Indian counterparts in the area of vaccines, snake
venom serum and intermediaries. Another five to six collaborations are in the
pipeline in diagnostic and other biotech products. A six-member Pakistan
delegation received a warm response from their Indian counterparts.
Pakistan has yet to develop in
the biotech sector. As a first step towards its development, Pakistan Academy of
Sciences is inviting Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the father of Green Revolution in
India, to explain the innovations to the Pakistani scientists, students and
farmers. A three-day conference is being organised in Lahore in May 2005 where
eminent scientists from India would interact with their counterparts in
Pakistan. The Indian scientists would explain their innovations in agriculture
sector. He also hoped that more exchange programmes would take place between the
two countries.
Biotechnology has been a front
line area of scientific activity over the past 20-22 years in India. The
government of Andhra Pradesh attaches great significance to biotechnology. An
extent of 101 acre of land is being allotted to start Phase III of the Shapoorji
Pallonji (S.P.) Biotech Park, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy, said in his
message to the BioAsia 2005. Dr. Reddy said that his government was identifying
an additional 1,000 acres of land in the Genome Valley for further expansion of
the Biotech cluster.
The second part of the three-day
Pan-Asia Biotechnology Conference held from 10-12 February 2005 in Hyderabad
(India) ended on a positive note with the signing of 27 MoUs, underlining the
fact that there is tremendous potential for Asian countries to initiate joint
research and development activities and simultaneously establish effective
trading links to expand operations.
As many as 72 one-to-one meetings
were arranged during the event. Over 70 delegates, comprising both company
representatives and individual entrepreneurs, from more than 30 countries
participated in the forum. Collaborations were sought in the areas of vaccines,
biopharmaceuticals, diagnostic products, pharma chemistry and product
development, agri-biotech, contract research, business development &
outsourcing, and venture financing etc.
Andhra Pradesh, is one of the
first states in India to have adopted a holistic approach to promote
biotechnology by strengthening its biotech base further. The state government
has evolved a three-pronged strategy to promote biotechnology. This includes
creation of world-class infrastructure, promotion of institutions to support
bio-ecosystem and provision of investment-friendly operating environment for
industries.
Biotech promotion strategy
Pakistan is predominantly an
agriculture-based economy. Agriculture accounts for 24 per cent of Pakistan’s
GDP. It covers a total area of 19,671 million acres of which 5,411 million acres
are cultivated. It is a country of over 150 million people. Biotechnology can
help us a lot. The modern biotech industry in Pakistan is extremely small. Using
traditional means, our ancestors were breeding animals and growing crops of
different varieties and these common practices have damaged the cultivated land
through water and wind erosion, compaction, salination and water logging.
The Ministry of Science and
Technology has in fact invested over Rs.1000 million in various projects. There
are 27 government institutes and universities working in the field of
biotechnology. The main thrust of most of these institutes has been the
development of genetically modified crops that are best suited to our
environment and can increase the productivity of the crops with minimal
environmental hazards.
The Commission comprises 14
members, which include expert agriculturists, environmentalists, industrialists
and scientists. There is no national biotech policy so far and the National
Commission is studying various regulations, especially the developments
happening in India so that it can formulate one on similar lines in Pakistan.
Pakistan has however, recently announced biosafety norms.
The National Commission for
Science and Technology chaired by the President of Pakisan has declared
biotechnology as one of the high priority areas among the selected research
fields. A project has been launched to improve research in agriculture,
livestock, and medical sectors at universities and R&D organisations. Under
the project liberal grants have been made available for active research
scientists working in this field. Further, the private sector is also being
encouraged. Initially, attention would be paid to human resource development and
in view of the limited resources, agriculture and health would be the top
priority areas.
Dr. Anwar Nasim says, Pakistan is
keen on initiating an Andhra Pradesh model for Faisalabad. The NCB has prepared
a National Biotechnology Policy and action plan, which outlines future
strategies for promotion of biotechnology in the country. The mandate of the
Commission is to focus on human resource development, strengthening research
facilities, funding young researchers for projects of high priority,
strengthening government-private sector collaboration, creating awareness and
encouraging research, which increases export. At the moment biotech development
is happening in Faisalabad, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Jamshoro, Karachi, Lahore,
Multan, Peshawar, and Quetta. The biotech research in Pakistan is carried out at
the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE),
Faisalabad; the Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology (CEMB); NFC Institute
of Engineering and Fertiliser Research, National Institute of Leather
Technology; Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) and
National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad.
The launching of FABA is a very
welcome initiative and it is good to see that Pakistan is playing an active role
in this regard.
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