The third and concluding day of Bangalore India Bio 2012 was held in the city on Wednesday.
The third and concluding day of Bangalore India Bio 2012, which was held in the city on Wednesday, focused on creating a platform to discuss sustainable agricultural methodologies and the role of biotechnology in the health industry.
A session on the importance of companion diagnostics in healthcare was held. Meeta Patnaik, managing director, Transtek Clinical Systems Inc, California, USA, spoke about the feasibility of companion diagnostics, which is a term used to explain the partnership between drug and diagnostic companies.
“The market adoption of companion diagnostics is influenced by many factors such as product life cycle, choice of diagnostic partner, large and small companies, distribution of intellectual property and global commercial strategy,” she said.
Dr Patnaik also highlighted the important role played by stakeholders for companion diagnostics when it is integrated into clinical practice.
Dr Sudeep Gupta, professor of medical oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital spoke about the use of biomarkers in oncology. “Biomarkers help give a more holistic approach to treating medical problems. We need to sift through these few percentage of population who are benefited by the healthcare products, from the rest percentage of patients who don’t really require it,” he said. Biomarkers in medicine are substances introduced into the body to diagnose various ailments.
The other main session of the day focussed on food security in India. Dr K K Narayanan, managing director, Metahelix Life Sciences Ltd, who chaired the session spoke about the role played by agriculture in the Indian economy.
“The contribution of the agricultural sector to the Indian economy has always been 30% of its GDP, but in the last decade it has reduced to just 15%,” he said.
M Mahadevappa, director, JSS Rural Dev Foundation said that biotechnology offered scope for improvement in the fields of horticulture, animal husbandry and forage.
“Dry land areas are a cradle for the second green revolution. We need to find a way to harness them,” he said.
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