WHO, WEF centres in Telangana soon, says KTR

Two international bodies – World Health Organisation and World Economic Forum – have chosen Telangana for setting up their projects at Genome Valley. The details would be formally announced shortly and these include an m-rna project by the World Health Organisation, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said here on Tuesday.

These come immediately after Gland Pharma announced to invest Rs 400 crore in Telangana to further expand its operations in Genome Valley. Serum Institute of India also announced the establishment of Dr Cyrus Poonawalla Centre of Excellence in infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness in Hyderabad, he said.

Interacting with the media here, the Minister said Telangana would host the 20th edition of industry event BioAsia from February 24 to 26. The event in the last 19 years had hosted thought leaders from over 100 countries. It promoted Hyderabad, Telangana and India as the investment destination for the pharma, health and life sciences sectors reflecting the capabilities of Telangana.

The event, which helped the State realise investments to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore in the past editions, had facilitated more than 20,000 meetings and resulted in many letters of intent (LoIs), bilateral cooperation agreements, and MoUs apart from



30 knowledge papers and policy recommendations, he said.

Invest India also showcased BioAsia as a benchmark to all the States in ‘creating exclusive and branded platforms’. Switzerland, Norway, Thailand, Korea, Argentina, Spain, UK, Germany, South Africa and others have participated in the event with large ministerial and industrial delegations. It also saw participation from Nobel Laureates, Food Laureates, Lasker Award winners, Breakthrough Prize winners and others.

The Genome Valley Excellence Award this year will be presented to Prof Robert Langer for his contribution to research on mRNA technology. The theme for this year is `Advancing for ONE – Shaping the next generation of humanised healthcare’. It will see participation from 50 countries with the UK as the partner country and Flanders as the international partner region. Delegations are coming from Estonia, South Africa, Vietnam, Switzerland and others.

The event will also see 175 exhibitors. It will host an `Innovative Zone’ for startups, which received 400 nominations and of them 75 got shortlisted.

IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan and Telangana Life Sciences Director Shakti Nagappan were also present.