Agilent Technologies Inc. has announced that it is joining forces with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to promote biopharmaceutical research.

Agilent and IIT Delhi signed a memorandum of understanding under which, Agilent, a leader in the biopharma space, is contributing funds to support the incubator at IIT New Delhi to support researchers at the institute establish global best practices for identifying and characterizing biopharmaceuticals. The research conducted by IIT Delhi examines and reports on the quality of biotherapeutic products for the Indian market.

Visiting the IIT Delhi campus today, Agilent CEO, Mike McMullen, spoke about Agilent’s history of innovation, focus on research and academia, and vision for the future. Likewise, the institute’s Director, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, spoke about the institute’s mission and role in promoting collaborations between academia and industry.

Agilent will be contributing funds to the IIT Delhi incubator site, as a part of its corporate social responsibility initiative, with the goal of enhancing the quality and safety of biotherapeutics. The aim is to offer world-class training to researchers from academia and industry on protein characterization.

The setup will be under the DBT Center of Excellence for Biopharmaceutical Technology (CBT) and will support incubated startups at IIT Delhi performing protein analysis, which results will provide critical information to policy makers for ensuring safe and efficacious biotherapeutic products in India.

“We are happy to be associated with Agilent,” said Prof. Anurag S. Rathore (IIT Delhi), Coordinator of the CBT. “Agilent’s broad range of technologies will further boost our efforts at the Centre of Excellence for Biopharmaceutical Technology. This mutually constructive and productive partnership will hopefully lead to promising results for the entire biotherapeutics ecosystem.”

“We are excited to embark on this initiative with IIT Delhi, an institute with the country’s brightest minds engaged in research and technology,” said Bharat Bhardwaj, country general manager, Agilent India. “Agilent’s relationship with IIT Delhi goes back decades. The new memorandum of understanding that we have signed will further strengthen our relationship and will enhance the ability to do cutting-edge research, which can be used to improve the quality of life for the community at large, through the application of new innovations.”

Image caption: (L to R) Samir Vyas, Country Manager, Application Solution & Business, Agilent India, Bharat Bhardwaj, Country General Manager, Agilent India, Anurag Singh Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations - IIT Delhi, President and CEO Mr. Mike McMullen, Agilent, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director-IIT Delhi, Monica Dhawan, Communications & PR Manager, Agilent India and Rahul Arora, Project Manager - Corporate Relations, IIT Delhi.