India’s Biopharma Leap: Strong Public–Private Collaboration Transforming Health Innovation

A quiet revolution is taking place in the biotechnology sector in India. And young entrepreneurs are leading the charge.

Arjun Arunachalam is one of them. His Bangalore-based start-up has scored a milestone for the country by becoming the first in India to indigenously develop and market an MRI scanner that is at par with the best in the world yet costs a fraction of the imported machines. India is one of the few countries which is building these scanners. Arjun’s lightweight, energy-efficient scanners – manufactured by his company, Voxel Grids Innovations Private Ltd - are already in use at cancer hospitals in Mumbai and Assam, helping to make advanced diagnostics more accessible and affordable for the 90 percent of Indians who currently lack access to it.

Jatin Vimal of Levim Lifetech Pvt Ltd has a similar story. His Chennai-based company is now producing Liraglutide, a biosimilar drug for Type 2 diabetes that costs a third of the imported version. This is the first biosimilar to be produced in India – an extremely complex process that calls for a live organism to be engineered to have therapeutic value. In fact, so vast is the gulf between the old chemical-based drugs and the new ‘biologics’ that the difference is said to be that between a car and a jumbo jet!  It is no surprise then that many established companies are racing to develop these new therapies, yet this startup has become the first in India to pull it off, enabling the company to break even within a year of production.

But that’s not all. Other private ventures are creating new antibiotics for UTI and pneumonia, while vaccines for dengue, chikungunya, and a life-threatening strain of malaria are likely to be out soon, along with the world’s first Hepatitis E vaccine. Importantly, these vaccines that address Indian strains will have been clinically tested across the country, covering India’s vast genetic diversity.  

Equally striking is the indigenous development of India’s first cell therapies for acute lymphoma in adults and children where the costs of importing life-saving medications has been prohibitive. In addition, research and development of endoscopes, heart valves, dental and bone implants as well as stem cell therapy for treating foot ulcers is underway.

All these scientific breakthroughs have one thing in common – each has been supported at critical stages of their development by India’s National Biopharma Mission (NBM), financed by a first of its kind World Bank project – the Innovate in India for Inclusiveness (i3) Project.

Dr Jitendra Kumar, Managing Director, Biotechnology Innovation Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) which is implementing the project said, “The National Biopharma Mission, with the World Bank’s support, is more than a program—it is a catalyst for India’s health innovation ecosystem. By bridging discovery with delivery, we are not only advancing affordable therapies but also building a resilient, globally credible biopharma sector that places India at the forefront of equitable healthcare solutions.”

India possesses a robust and evolving scientific ecosystem, supported by a wide network of public research institutions startups and private enterprises. While collaboration among these stakeholders has been historically limited, BIRAC since 2012 has been working to bridge this gap aiming to build stronger and resilient collaborations.  Since 2017 National Biopharma Mission (NBM) with World Bank’s support has been helping advance biotech research and accelerate the development of biopharmaceuticals.

Taking research from lab to market

One of the Mission’s top priorities was to strengthen the industry-academia partnership. “Innovation cannot thrive in isolation,” noted Dinesh Nair, Senior Health Specialist, and Amadou Dem, Senior Economist and Task Team Leader of the World Bank project. “Transformative, government-supported breakthroughs occur when institutions across the public and private sectors join forces to leverage expertise and resources.”

The Mission formed Scientific Advisory Groups where universities, researchers, businesses, and government agencies came together to share knowledge and approve research that met public needs.

“Globally, a lot of innovation takes place in start-ups,” said Dr Raj K. Shirumalla, Mission Director of the NBM. “But this wasn’t happening in India because the funding and the supporting ecosystem was missing. Startups require nurturing and support – in terms of finance, technical advice, regulatory guidance and being provided the necessary infrastructure.”

The Mission thus put in place the building blocks of such an ecosystem and has now become the country’s largest source of early- stage funding for the sector. Since 2014, nearly 10,000 bio-based research startups have come-up in India, many of which benefited by the mission either directly or indirectly.

About 100 such incubation centers have been set up by BIRAC.  These centers have provided shared lab facilities where small biotech firms and start-ups can run their experiments more cheaply and easily, which otherwise would have been too expensive for nascent companies. These were augmented by 25 specialized research, prototyping, and pilot scale biomanufacturing facilities set up with the support of NBM. The start-ups have also benefited from expert mentorship, funding, and opportunities for networking, all in an environment designed to encourage innovation and help transform scientific discoveries into market ready products.  Some of these facilities are available at Venture Center in Pune, C-CAMP, Bengaluru, AMTZ at Vishakhapatnam, IIT Kanpur, and at IRSHA Pune, to name a few.  

When Arjun Arunachalam returned to India after completing a doctorate in electrical engineering and specialization as an MRI physicist, he received some initial funding from Tata Trusts to incubate his venture.   But he admits that it was the Rs 12.4 crores he received from the Mission that enabled him to take his idea from concept to production.

Protecting intellectual property rights

To protect the intellectual property rights of innovators, more than 7,000 participants —of whom 45% were women—were trained in both national and global regulations. This has helped innovators protect their work by filing for Intellectual Property Rights.

The Mission has also helped set up seven Regional Technology Transfer Offices which have together handled over 850 intellectual property filings and nearly 120 technology transfers. This protection has provided innovators the much-needed encouragement to do research. These efforts have created a robust, skilled workforce dedicated to advancing biopharma innovations.

Conducting clinical trials

Clinical trial sites - another critical shortfall – are being established in line with international standards. Some 30 hospital and 10 field sites - which have a readily available database of around 800,000 volunteers - have been set up to run trials in areas like cancer, rheumatology, diabetes, and ophthalmology. Over 100 clinical trials have been supported so far, making India a reliable place for high-quality trials and attracting international partnerships.

Jatin Vimal, the manufacturer of Liraglutide, says that the funding he received through the Mission covered 85% of his clinical trial costs, while the quarterly scientific advisory and technical review meetings offered valuable guidance on the development, regulatory strategy, and project management of his venture, enabling him to keep the costs low and gain faster market entry.

Developing vaccines for India and the world

One of the Mission’s landmark achievements is the development of the world’s first DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, by Zydus Cadila. While Zydus contributed scientific expertise and large-scale manufacturing capabilities, the Mission provided essential funding and technical support.

The Mission is also supporting the development of the chikungunya vaccine by Bharat Biotech, a leading Indian vaccine and bio-therapeutics company. This vaccine will be the first of its kind developed and tested in India and has significant market potential both domestically and for export to Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where chikungunya is prevalent. 

Dr Badri Patnaik and Dr Rajashree along with a team of 20-25 scientists who are leading this program are confident that the vaccine will be launched soon. They say that apart from the Rs. 16 crores or so they received from the Mission, their periodical reviews were very helpful, as were their assistance with regulatory approvals.

A blueprint for India’s biopharma future

“India has an incredible talent pool,” said Arjun Arunachalam, a thought that was echoed by many others. He employs 35 people from a variety of disciplines and commends their strong work ethic and their phenomenal ability to learn. Many of them have studied in the less well-known technical institutes, he explained.  “All they need is the right environment to blossom.”

“India has the capability and the will to make a mark in the $1.1 trillion global pharma industry,” said Dr Raj K. Shirumalla.  “It is already the world’s leader in generic medicines and vaccines. All it needs is support and sustained investment to emerge as a global biopharmaceutical powerhouse —not just in volume, but also in value and impact.”

India is entering a new era in biotechnology, with entrepreneurs and scientists demonstrating the country’s talent and drive for biopharma innovation. This is what India’s National Biopharma Mission, supported by the World Bank, set out to do – it has laid the groundwork towards creating a thriving biopharma ecosystem. To become a true biopharma powerhouse, these innovators will require further public and private support. Sustained investment, progressive regulations, and a strong ecosystem can scale up breakthroughs. With continued commitment, India has the potential to deliver not just to its people but also to become one of the global leaders in biopharmaceuticals.