Tie-up with academia can trim R&D cost for startups
The entrepreneurs can save thousands of dollars, while filing global patents through academic institutions, says Prof E Premkumar Reddy, Director, Icahn School of Medicine
- It costs $10k if a pharma firm directly applies for a patent in the US
- But if applied through an academic centre, it’ll be only $1,000
- Young entrepreneurs have more innovative solutions
- But they are unable to bear the financial risks
The new drug discovery is a long journey and each stage requires huge investments. Though there are some government initiatives to give financial aid to startups, they are not sufficient. Private funding is the need of the hour. More VC platforms shall come up for startups
Hyderabad: Pharma and biotech startups should associate with academic institutions to reduce the expenses on research and development (R&D) at least by 10 times in their journey of drug discovery, says Prof E Premkumar Reddy, Director, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the US. He virtually spoke to Bizz Buzz on the sidelines of the Drug Discovery and Development workshop.
The 21-day workshop was organised by FABA (Federation of Asian Biotech Associations) Academy in collaboration with US-based non-profit organisation Science Gurus, and the University of Hyderabad from March 13 to April 2. The online event was also supported by World Trade Center (WTC) Shamshabad and Visakhapatnam.
Suggesting the startups to collaborate with academia, Prof Premkumar said: “With the help of universities and institutions, the startups can file for global patents at a very less cost. Besides applying in India, it is important for them to file patents in strong markets like the US, Europe, China, Japan and Korea. They can save thousands of dollars while filing through academia.”
Citing his own experience as an example, he said: “I had started a company and developed a new drug in partnership with Mount Sinai School of Medicine. We made a research agreement with it so that all work can be done here. If we directly apply for a patent in the US as a pharma firm, we may shell out $10,000 but we got the same for only $1,000 through the academic centre.”
On the last day of the workshop, there was a panel discussion on ‘How India can become a powerhouse in drug discovery?’ moderated by Reagene Innovations Co-founder Uday Saxena. During a conversation on startups, he said: “Today, the young entrepreneurs of the country have more innovative solutions, but they are unable to bear the financial risks.”
Responding to his concern, Dr Manish Diwan, Head-Strategic Partnership, BIRAC-India, said: “The new drug discovery is a long journey and each stage requires huge investments. Though there are some government initiatives to give financial aid to startups, they are not sufficient. Private funding is the need of the hour. More platforms like BioAngels shall come up for startups.” Also, leading corporates shall invest in innovative startups. Pharma companies are still hesitant to come forward to encourage the innovators. Nevertheless, the top CEOs have started investing in startups working in this domain from their personal funds. This trend is getting propagated across the country, he further said.
