Bangalore, March 10, 2008: The USA-India Chamber of Commerce (USAIC), a bilateral chamber of commerce aimed at promoting and facilitating trade and investment between the US and India, will organize its annual US-India BioPharma Summit on June 13th, 2008 at Massachusetts.

 

"Delivering Affordable Innovation through Cross Border Partnerships" is the theme of the summit.

 

"The US-India BioPharma Summit is part of an ongoing dialogue with all the stakeholders including industry, investors, policy makers and academia," said Karun Rishi, President of the USA-India Chamber of Commerce.

 

Besides, Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Surinder Singh, Drug Controller General of India, Dr. M K Bhan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, key policy makers from India are likely to attend the summit for which a number of companies from India and the US have already confirmed their participation, a prepared company release said.

 

Companies like Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck & Co, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Wyeth, Biogen Idec, Vertex Pharma, Gilead, Jubilant, Advinus, Biocon and Aurigine are likely to participate. Among other are Lehman Brothers, Lazard, TVM Capital, Alexandria Real Estate and a number of investment bankers and venture capitalists.

 

"We expect a strong participation from emerging companies. This is an ideal platform to understand the trends, policy, forge alliances and business partnerships," Rishi said.

 

 

Discussions of the US-India BioPharma Summit 2008 will be centered on a wide range of issues -- Drug Discovery, Research & Development, India's role in Global Bio/Pharma R&D: Transition from "Generics" to "Drug Innovation", In/Out Licensing- New Partnerships and Business Models, Clinical Trials in India: Opportunities and regulatory issues, Neglected Diseases, Innovation & Intellectual Property Protection, Funding Innovation- Opportunities and Challenges, Investment Opportunities, Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliance Dynamics in the Indian Bio-Pharma Industry, Cross border investment trends in the Bio-Pharma industry and Industry-Academic Partnership.