Deepanwita Chattopadhyay is the Chairman and CEO of IKP Knowledge Park in Hyderabad, India's first life sciences research park. Deepanwita, a pioneer in hardware product incubators and makerspaces in India, was also the key driving force behind IKP EDEN-Engineering, Design and Entrepreneurship Network, a makerspace in Bangalore.
With extensive experience in mentoring startups, Deepanwita works with partners in India and globally to incubate and fund innovation projects and early-stage startups in the life sciences space.
She started her career as an engineering faculty member at BITS in Pilani and as a freelance children's science writer. She then joined ICICI Bank's Telecom Advisory practice in 1994, advising governments and the private sector on telecom regulation and policy, convergence issues, and market entry strategies.
Deepanwita is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the International Association of Science Parks (IASP), with world headquarters in Malaga, Spain. She is a member of the Research Council of Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Executive Council of AGNIi (Accelerating Growth of New India Innovations) and Governing Councils of several incubators in India.
Deepanwita spoke to indianexpress.com about the challenges faced by life science startups, the need for patient capital in deep tech research, IKP's guidance for life science startups, and more. Edited excerpt:
Venkatesh Kannaiah: Could you give us an overview of new innovations occurring globally in life sciences and their societal impact?
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: Innovation in healthcare, agriculture, food and nutrition, and the environment are areas of global interest. On the one hand, there is the construction of a large infrastructure of superspecialty hospitals by the government and the private sector, but more interestingly, telemedicine, better access to health through the use of multiple digital tools, and both emphasis on better diagnostics provided in the region. – both humanly and remotely.
We are also seeing innovations such as decision support systems for doctors, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the use of large databases to collect patterns and suggest treatments. For example, there is a company called Niramai that is revolutionizing breast cancer screening and using data and AI to provide faster screening. Another example is Predible Health, one of his startups that we have incubated. The company uses AI to accurately analyze his MRI and other radiology images to help doctors diagnose and treat organ-specific cancers, especially lung cancer.
There are also nutraceutical and smart protein innovations focused on plant-based proteins for vegetarians. Agriculture is witnessing innovation across the value chain, from crop, pest and soil management to areas such as improved hydroponics and water management techniques.
We now have the concept of “Onehealth,” which sees human, animal, and plant health as an integrated whole. The effects of climate change and the transfer of pathogens from birds to humans and from animals to humans are forcing us to rethink our health. This is a paradigm shift, and I think most new innovations will be tested to the extent to which they consider “onehealth” thinking and the risk of unintended consequences.
Venkatesh Kannaiah: Tell us about a startup you have nurtured/mentored/funded that you think will have a significant impact on society.
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: To date, we have engaged with over 1,400 startups, many of which have achieved great success in social impact and fundraising.
Laurus Labs was the first company developed by IKP to transform from an active pharmaceutical ingredient company primarily focused on oncology and HIV to an integrated research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology company. Their work spans investments in generic formulations, custom synthesis, biotechnology, veterinary APIs, as well as cell and gene therapy innovations. They work with all of the world's top generic drug companies and have over 200 patents in their field. I believe that IKP is one of the leading and influential companies in his IKP and a successful model that many should emulate.
GPS Renewables is a waste-to-energy technology company that is pioneering the development of clean, low-cost technology for waste disposal solutions. The company is also India's leading full-stack biofuels company, offering technology and project development solutions for bioCNG, ethanol and green hydrogen solutions. . It also commissioned Asia's largest bio-CNG plant in Indore and built a biogas-based EV charging station in Mumbai.
Logy.AI is a small, early-stage company that uses AI and ML to train a database to screen cataract patients and enable this screening to be performed via smartphones. This would facilitate mass testing in remote areas of the country.
Remedio is a company that has built solutions to treat diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases such as glaucoma. This is also a solution in the field of remote monitoring, but here a unique imaging system is used instead of a smartphone camera. Using AI and telemedicine, we are decentralizing comprehensive vision testing using simple ophthalmic devices. Even inexperienced volunteers can use these products with minimal training.
Dozee is another innovative company that places a sensor-equipped sheet under your mattress that captures the micro-vibrations your body emits through your heartbeat, breathing cycles, and body movements. Data is sent to a secure cloud and transformed into meaningful biomarkers.
Venkatesh Kannaiah: Can you tell us about the challenge grants and the interesting startups that have come out of these initiatives?
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: We are a pioneer in becoming the program implementation partner in India for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's global Grand Challenge Explorations in 2011. We partnered with the Gates Foundation, USAID, BIRAC, and FCDO-UK to implement the Tuberculosis Grand Challenge in India. And we discovered many innovations.
India is one of the countries with a very high incidence of tuberculosis. Among the many startups that passed through our cohort was Everwell Health, which is working in the area of patient adherence to medication regimens by developing a digital product called 99DOT. Globally, there is a standard called Directly Observed Therapy (DOT), which requires healthcare professionals to manually monitor patients taking medications. Since this is a big challenge, many innovations have been built around the theme of medication adherence, and 99DOTS is one of the most innovative and has been widely adopted in India and around the world.
We also worked with the Government of Karnataka on five grand challenges. One of the themes was industrial wastewater, and the startup Greenvironment provided a sophisticated solution that was adopted by a variety of residential complexes and industries.
In the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, we began working on a variety of solutions to combat the pandemic, from masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) to diagnostics and non-invasive ventilators. We have established a small fund called IKP COVID Fund or I-CO Fund to quickly gather startups.
We have collaborated extensively with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, on grand challenges in various aspects of health, from infectious diseases to maternal and child health to digital health. . We have mentored many startup companies. One of them is Janitri Innovations, which is working to develop sustainable and affordable vital monitoring devices and software to monitor the progress of pregnancy and childbirth. We offer a wide range of prenatal and birth monitoring products.
Another interesting startup is Parisodhana, which has developed StayWarm, a palm-sized product that provides comfortable warmth without the need for power or batteries. These pouches conveniently fit into pockets, gloves, and shoes and provide 6-8 hours of warmth. They are also working in the field of particulate matter in the field of air-activated warming platforms. This technology can provide solutions for various on-the-go heating and heating needs of users. Various products are tested for performance at very high altitudes and in cold climates. These are currently being used by Indian soldiers in the Siachen region.
Venkatesh Kannaiah: How is the startup ecosystem in your domain in India, are startups getting funding and what are the challenges and opportunities?
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: We need to understand that life sciences is a long-conceived, IP-driven field, with deep technology-based research results, patient funding, and no immediate returns. This is also an area that requires validation of products and regulatory processes and practices to be followed. It takes at least five to 10 years for a product to reach the market, and most of the initial funding comes from subsidies and government investment.
However, the industry is now maturing and life sciences-focused funds are emerging. Previously, the Company had little product innovation in the biopharmaceutical field, and was primarily involved in process innovation and manufacturing generic drugs using off-patent drugs. The pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors are currently evolving in areas of innovation centered on green chemistry, biosimilars and biologics.
Mr. Venkatesh Kanaiah: What are biosimilars and why are they important for India?
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: A biosimilar is a biological drug that is very similar to another biological drug (called an originator drug) that has already been approved by a regulatory agency such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Biosimilar drugs and reference drugs are made from living organisms, but they are made in different ways and may be made from slightly different substances. Biosimilars have had a positive impact on drug pricing, making it more affordable for certain types of medicines that are currently very expensive, especially those used to treat conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, and chronic arthritis. It will lead to This is important because many expensive biological medicines used in developed countries are going off-patent, potentially leading to the production of similar medicines and biosimilars.
The next big thing for India will be biomanufacturing. We are considered the world's pharmacy supplying generic medicines worldwide. India now has the opportunity to become the world's biomanufacturing hub. It's not just about biosimilar manufacturing, it's about biologics as a whole.
Venkatesh Kanaiah: What are the big bets in this space that will hopefully have a big impact?
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay: Although there is a long way to go, cell and gene therapy for cancer, and immunotherapy in general, are areas where India can bring down prices several notches to make treatments more affordable in the long run. I feel it. Several companies are working in this space and we are proud that Laurus Labs is investing in this potentially transformative space in the long term.
