The fifth edition of Bangalore Bio 2005, a premier annual biotech event, will be held from April 22-24, 2005 at the Palace Grounds, Bangalore. Bangalore Bio is India's biggest biotech show and is being promoted by the Government of Karnataka and the state's Vision Group on Biotechnology. The Vision Group is chaired by Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon. Bangalore Bio was first launched in 2001 and over the past four years, the event has emerged to be the largest congregation of global biotech community in India.

Dr Anbumani Ramdoss, the union minister of health and family welfare, Government of India, will inaugurate the event on April 22, 2005. Shankaralinge Gowda, secretary, IT and BT, Government of Karnataka, informed, "Bangalore Bio 2005 will be a much bigger show with over 5,000 sq m of space for the tradeshow, international conference and a host of other events. We expect participation of about 100 companies from over 20 countries and 25,000 business visitors."

The event will comprise a trade show, an international conference and special networking events like the CEO Conclave, Awards Nite and Bio Banquet. Mazumdar-Shaw said the focus of the three-day event would be on partnerships. While, the conference is expected to see about 60 speakers from across the globe sharing their outlook, a total of 700 delegates are anticipated to attend the conference. The inaugural ceremony of the conference will be addressed by Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Sydney Brenner, chairman, Biomedical Research Council, Singapore.

With focal theme being "Bio-Partnering for Global Challenges", the conference will also include a round table on Biotech Policy and a panel discussion on Biotech Parks. The conference will have various tracks like Frontier Areas of Biotech Research, Clinical Research, New Trends in Agribiotech Research, Human Resource Development, BioEntrepreneurship, BioPartnering, Bioinformatics, Nutraceuticals, Marine and Animal Biotechnology and IPR & India.

Gowda also informed that the state government is actively pursuing measures to foster the sector. Besides the biotech park, the government has initiated a proposal to set up a nodal agency for the bio-informatics sector, modeled on the lines of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), in Bangalore.

Another salient feature this year would be a focused session for the investor community, where the investors would be apprised about the various developments in the industry on regulations, markets, etc. "Last year, there was a tremendous response from the student community for the event. Thus, we thought that it was time to start a bio quiz to generate interest among the students towards biotechnology," Gowda said.

Several companies, countries and states have confirmed their participations. Major players like Agilent Technologies, Alfa Laval, Astra Zeneca, Avesthagen, Biocon, JETRO, Jubiliant Biosys, Sami Labs, Sartorius and Strand Genomics will be participating in the tradeshow at Bangalore Bio 2005. Among the others, Invest UK, the state governments of Rajasthan and Chattisgarh have confirmed their representation. According to the organizers, delegations from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the UK will partake in Bangalore Bio 2005.