The 2020 edition of BioAsia was held in the iconic city of Hyderabad
The 2020 edition of BioAsia was held in the iconic city of Hyderabad

Healthtech meets Biryani - and how they inspired a global collaboration

Hyderabad is famous for two things.

One, for the flavorsome Biryanis (a delectable rice dish) - arguably the best in the world.
Two, for being one of the prominent hubs in life sciences and healthtech.

Byriani Rice: a delectable rice dish
Byriani Rice: a delectable rice dish

We must admit that we acknowledged both these parameters equally, while choosing to be the country partner at BioAsia, one of Asia's largest life sciences conferences. The 2020 edition of BioAsia was held in the iconic city of Hyderabad in Telangana - a southern state in India.

Switzerland and India as strategic partners in healthcare can shape the future of the industry, in multiple ways. To better understand the potential of an Indo-Swiss partnership, one needs to take a closer look at the biotech industries of the two countries.

The Swiss biotech industry is home to 312 companies, generating a revenue of CHF 4 billion, whilst investing over CHF 1.5 billion in R&D, yearly. Switzerland represents around 40% of the European life sciences market capitalisation across Europe’s major stock exchanges. Often ranked as the most innovative country in the world, Switzerland performs cutting-edge research in medical-, bio- and nano-technologies.

Similarly, India offers world-class facilities for the pharma segment, established competencies in medtech manufacturing and is an emerging center for novel diagnostics. Telangana is home to nearly 800 pharma/biotech companies, valued at USD 50 billion and Hyderabad houses the largest biocluster. Nearly a third of vaccines produced in the world come from Hyderabad. Global pharmaceutical giants such as Novartis, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, AMRI, etc. have already established their India and Asia subsidiaries in the city.

Clearly, Switzerland and India can co-create solutions. And BioAsia was the perfect platform to plant the seeds for future partnerships, #connecting tomorrow.

Switzerland's keen interest in engaging with the key players in India was backed by the holistic representation of the Swiss healthtech ecosystem spanning from corporates to startups to academia to investors, at BioAsia 2020. Being the country sponsor certainly helped in putting the spotlight on Swiss innovators.

The delegation included startups looking to enter the Indian market and to validate their business plan, researchers looking for scientific exchanges and collaboration, government agencies looking to engage with industry partners, cantonal representatives looking to establish a stronger two-way trade and investment relations with India. We can proudly say that this platform paved the way for meaningful exchanges, culminating in concrete collaborations.

To know more about the impressions by Swiss representatives on India’s biocluster, watch this video:

The how and why?

swissnex India has a strong topical focus on "healthtech". The primary aim of the second edition of our flagship program, Indo-Swiss HealthTech Week was to showcase Switzerland as a powerhouse of innovation. The week-long program included not only the participation at BioAsia 2020 but also market exploration with 1:1 coaching, B2B meetings in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The delegation of 23 healthtech experts also included five startups – Cellestia, Bottmedical, Noul, ARTIDIS and PeriVision who not only had the opportunity to explore new innovations but also to understand gap-opportunity analysis, for collaboration.

The outcomes

The Swiss delegates were indeed happy with the milestones achieved in a week. Now the crucial question is, “did they get to taste the best Biryani ever”?

Well, what do you think?

“did they get to taste the best Biryani ever”?