The Department of Biotechnology is an Indian government department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, responsible for administering development and commercialization in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. The DBT was also one of the world's first government departments that was established to focus solely on the biotechnology sector.[4]
The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) is a proposed regulatory body in India for uses of biotechnology products including genetically modified organisms (GMOs).[6] The institute was first suggested under the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) draft bill prepared by the Department of Biotechnology in 2008. Since then, it has undergone several revisions.[7]
Reliance Life Sciences, owned by Mukesh Ambani, Asia's wealthiest man, manufactures biosimilars and other biopharmaceutical and pharmaceutical products.[16][17]
Syngene International, is a subsidiary of Biocon and is a contact development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) that, among other areas, offers CDMO services for biologics.[26][27] Laurus Bio is a subsidiary of Laurus Labs and was originally an independent company named Richcore, before Laurus Labs acquired Richcore and renamed it.[28][29] Laurus Bio, among other products and services, also offers CDMO services for microbialprecision fermentation.[30] In 2021, Cipla entered into a joint venture with biopharmaceutical CDMO company Kemwell Biopharma, to develop, manufacture and commercialize biosimilars for global markets.[31]Concord Biotech, among other areas, offers contract research and manufacturing services for fermentation products.[32]
There have been an increasing number of startups being founded in the Indian biotechnology industry. In 2021, the total number of biotechnology startups stood at 5365, whereas in 2010, there were only 50 startups in the sector.[2] As of 2021, more than half of the biotechnology startups are being founded in the medical sector, however, other large sectors where biotechnology startups are being founded include 18% in the biotechnology services sector and 14% of startups are in agricultural biotechnology.[4]
The DBT has set up biotechnology parks in India, and as of 2022, there are 9 biotechnology parks across the country.[39] The parks have been set up by the DBT to give infrastructure support that will assist in making biotechnology research into products and services.[39] The biotechnology parks give scientists and small and medium-sized enterprises facilities that can help them in developing and demonstrating technologies, and assist in their pilot plant studies as well.