UK trade body to lead delegations to India focusing biotech industry

The UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), a government investment services organization, will focus on promoting trade and investment relation between the biopharmaceutical industry in the UK and India by arranging business meetings in next month or two.

The organization's Bangalore, India, which unit helps businesses locate in the UK and grow internationally, is planning to lead a 10-member business delegation of biotech firms from Britain to India, from March 15, 2010. The delegation, consisting of small and medium-sized biopharma companies would visit biotherapeutic firms in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore on consecutive days in order to understand the strengths of the Indian industry, said an official from the UKTI.

The effort is to give the UK firms an idea about the Indian biopharma industry, which would lead eventually to business collaborations between them for better synergy, reports the Indian PharmaBiz. It has already sought the support of the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and will seek similar partnership from the leading Indian biotech industry organization, the Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE). Simultaneously, the UKTI will also lead a team of six major delegates from the Indian stem cell industry to the UK.