• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

G.K. Nair

A scene at a medicinal biotech lab.

KOCHI, Dec. 3

THOUGH the country is blessed with the world's largest bio-resources with tremendous scope for medicinal biotechnology, the potential of this sub-sector still remains untapped.

This sub-sector has to operate within the constraints of the rigorous stipulations of the new trade regime and the major stipulations relate to the area of intellectual property rights, according to Dr P.M. Mathew, Director, Institute of Small Enterprises and Development, here.

The medicinal biotechnology sub-sector faces several constraints and depending upon the nature of these constraints appropriate policy interventions are needed, he said.

The industry level constraints are firstly, the biotech herbs are addressed to constraints relating to cost. While collection from the wild is not very expensive, turning our plants through the biotech requires substantial lumpy investment.

Second, demand for such plants also is often erratic. Third, while it is possible to produce several rare herbs through the bio-technique, the industry may often face problem of over capacity, since all plants are not intensively used in the production line.

The concept of science parks has been widely discussed in the country of late. The concept implies a significant interaction between scientific institutions/universities, and industry. In centres such as the ones in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the concept is gradually picking up. "Companies as Shanta and Bharat struggle and depend on various other companies as also on academic institutions as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)," he said.

While the existing units are often struggling for financial support, there is also a paradoxical situation of venture capital companies not getting enough clients.

This, in fact, is a problem of mismatch. The Centre for Biotechnology (CBT) in Delhi has transferred technology for four genetically engineered products, epidermal growth factor (healing of wounds), staphylokinase (dissolving clots), insulin and lysotaphin. But, this is the first technology transfer in India by a public sector R&D institute in biotech area, he pointed out.

"These are isolated cases. It is this severe institutional problem which has to be addressed to on a war-footing," Dr Mathew said.

Another major issue relates to the community's perception on industry and environment. Medicinal plants are not often viewed from an industry angle. The biodiversity angle is more prominent in the country. "Industry and R&D linkages are miserably poor. Besides, research is expensive," he pointed out. The inputs of post-harvest technology are negligibly utilised. This affects quality standards of drugs as a whole, especially in the case of ayurvedic drugs.

Systems of measurement, standards, testing and quality, available with exporters are poor.

The market potential of medicinal plants is not properly explored in India, despite its high tradition of Ayurveda.

He said the core of public policy in the country is the focussed attention on selected medicinal plants numbering around 25. These plants are promoted to be grown on a large-scale.

The Task Force report on the Indian system of medicine makes some passing references on agricultural biotechnology while on microbial biotechnology still no policy statement has been made.

Besides, the promotional schemes of the Union Government also do not have much focus. ICAR and CSIR focus on 40 medicinal plant species while the Union Ministry of Health promotes small herbal gardens in educational institutions, he said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
Comment on this article to BLFeedback@thehindu.co.in

Stories in this Section
Demand up for sheet rubber

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line