BioAsia, Asia’s largest annual global Biotechnology and Life Sciences forum organised by the Government of Telangana, has announced that the the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA), which is a partner organisation of BioAsia has announced that the FABA Special Award will be bestowed upon Dr Balram Bhargava for his exemplary contributions to medicine and healthcare. 

Dr Bhargava has been serving as the Secretary to Government of India, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare & Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research since 2018. He has not only spearheaded the fight against COVID-19 in India but has also commenced several extraordinary marquee projects such as India- Stanford Biodesign programme, c-GMP Centre for Excellence for Stem Cell Studies, Studies, Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM) and many more. He has pioneered the development of indigenous low-cost coronary stents that have benefited several thousand patients.

FABA, which represents 20 Asian countries with a common interest in promoting human health through advances in Biotechnology, instituted the ‘FABA Special Award’ in BioAsia 2010. Further, the Federation has announced that the award has been renamed as ‘Dr BS Bajaj Memorial FABA award’ in memory of the late Dr BS Bajaj, who was a founding member of the Federation.

The principal industry hosts for BioAsia 2021 are Novartis and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. Further, the industry co-host for the event are Aurobindo, Hetero Biopharma and Laurus Labs.