Amid the gloom caused by Covid, one sector which provided a ray of hope was life sciences and turning the challenge into an opportunity, Hyderabad fortified its position as a global force in the world of pharmaceuticals.
This southern city, already recognised as a global information technology destination, proved its prowess in the field of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and emerged as the vaccine capital of the world.
Already known as the bulk drug capital of India, Hyderabad witnessed manufacturing of lifesaving Covid drugs like Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine and Favipiravir by some of the top pharma companies based here.
This was followed by hectic efforts in the city to develop Covid vaccine. In fact, Hyderabad has emerged as the nerve centre of all research and development activities in the country for Covid vaccines and has even attracted international attention.
Today, almost all the vaccines being developed in the country for the pandemic have a Hyderabad connect.
Four of the six companies developing Covid vaccines in India are based in Hyderabad. Hyderabad was under spotlight with the recent visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ambassadors of more than 60 countries to the facilities of Bharat Biotech and Biological E in Genome Valley.
Telangana’s industry minister KT Rama Rao believes that Hyderabad has cemented its position as the vaccine capital of the world.
He pointed out that Hyderabad is already manufacturing more than two billion doses of vaccines every year, which is one-third of the global vaccine output.
The city, with its strong ecosystem, has played a critical role in making India not only self-sufficient in the medicine manufacture but also turned it into the pharmacy capital of the world. It accounts for 40 per cent of the total Indian bulk drugs and 50 per cent of the bulk drug exports.
Industry leaders believe that Hyderabad will be an integral part of the global efforts to vaccinate the world against Covid.
Even if no vaccine is developed in the city, the city will still have a big role to play in global vaccination efforts with the sheer vaccine manufacturing capacity it houses.
Hyderabad has the largest US FDA approved vaccine facilities. They have the capacity to manufacture millions of doses with world-class standards.
“India’s vaccine sector will play a critical role in developing and producing vaccine at scale for distribution across the world. Hyderabad’s importance in the global vaccine landscape is only growing,” KT Rama Rao said.
Telangana government has assured the companies that it will play the enabling role in global vaccination efforts against Covid.
The Hyderabad airport announced few days ago that has developed necessary infrastructure to handle the exports.
As per the industry insights, most of India’s vaccine export will be to Africa, Latin America and Asian destinations.
Hyderabad is already home to more than 800 life sciences companies and the sector employs over 1,20,000 pharmaceutical professionals.
It is said to be the only city in the country to house more than 20 incubation centres focused only on life sciences and health-tech. More than 200 start-ups are also working on innovative solutions in healthcare.
Genome Valley is India’s first organised cluster for life sciences R&D activities spread across 600 square kilometers. Set up in 1999, it has world-class infrastructure facilities in the form of Industrial / Knowledge parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Multi-tenanted dry and wet laboratories and incubation facilities.
With Hyderabad Pharma City also likely to be operational soon, the city is looking to ramp-up production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and thus develop a cluster to help the country compete with China.
The new project is expected to create 1,70,000 direct jobs and 5,60,000 indirect jobs. #KhabarLive #hydnews
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