Overcoming Barriers in Commercializing Bio-Tech Innovations in India: A Case of Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms

Building capabilities to successfully commercialize biotech research into products or solutions, is paramount but challenging to develop, especially in developing ecosystems or countries. Once accomplished, they can turn-around the socioeconomic condition in such countries and make them self-reliant, at least in the healthcare sector. It may also encourage the incumbent research community to transform their research findings into scientific, entrepreneurial or commercial ventures. However, building such `innovation ecosystems' in developing countries, requires scientific, financial and infrastructural support to overcome their existing barriers. In India, one such government-funded non-profit organization which is trying to overcome the existing barriers and building an ecosystem to encourage biotech innovation and entrepreneurship, is the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP). Since its inception, it has been able to support more than 90 biotech start-ups in funding, mentorship and incubation. In this paper, we start our discussion by understanding some of the major challenges faced by contemporary biotech organizations in India while commercializing their innovations. Subsequently, we attempt to understand how C-CAMP was conceptualized to overcome some of these barriers and how it evolved over the years, to become a nodal agency for inspiring biotech innovations and entrepreneurship. This case study highlights some of the best practices followed by C-CAMP in managing biotech innovation and commercialization. Top Management Teams in biotech-based academia, industry, government or venture capital funding agencies from any country may find these barriers and best practices worth studying and analyzing.