Telangana plans drug discovery push to move Hyderabad up pharma value chain

The Telangana government is preparing a plan to move Hyderabad up the pharmaceutical value chain by creating infrastructure for developing new medicines, people familiar with the matter told ET.

The plan, being discussed with industry stakeholders and technology bodies, including Nasscom, seeks to bring together global and Indian pharmaceutical companies, global capability centres (GCCs), research institutions, startups and investors to create an integrated ecosystem for drug discovery and commercialisation.

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"We are creating the conditions for the next generation of therapies to be discovered, developed and delivered from Telangana," IT and industries minister D Sridhar Babu told ET.

Hyderabad already ranks among the world's leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs, contributing nearly a third of the global vaccine output. This gives it a foundation to expand into drug discovery and innovation.

Unlike conventional industrial policies focused on subsidies or large capital investments, Telangana's strategy is to lower the cost and complexity of drug discovery by creating shared facilities that companies can access, while also leveraging existing infrastructure.

Instead of spending billions to build a government-led drug discovery programme, Telangana wants to create the infrastructure, funding and partnerships that make it easier for private companies, researchers and startups to discover the next generation of drugs from Hyderabad.

As part of this larger ambition, the state is planning a dedicated 100-acre biologics and advanced therapies cluster within the proposed 2,100-acre life sciences zone in Bharat Future City, with a focus on emerging areas such as cell and gene therapies, biosimilars, precision medicine and novel biologics.

The state is also setting up a Rs 25-30 crore Centre of Excellence for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in collaboration with the Centre. Hiring is currently underway for the centre, which is expected to open soon.

A cornerstone of the strategy is 1Bio, Telangana's shared biomanufacturing and research infrastructure facility. Instead of requiring startups and researchers to invest in expensive laboratories, the facility gives them access to advanced research infrastructure on a pay-per-use basis, significantly lowering the cost of early-stage drug discovery and commercialisation.

The state is also setting up a Rs 1,000-crore Life Sciences Fund to provide long-term risk capital for deep-science ventures and is also exploring ways to tap into the Centre's Rs 1 lakh-crore RDI fund.

The strategy builds on an ecosystem that already includes Genome Valley, the Medical Devices Park, more than 20 life sciences incubators, over 40 national research institutions and a growing base of global pharmaceutical GCCs.

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As the plan takes shape, the government aims to connect pharma companies, researchers and startups with Hyderabad's technology ecosystem to harness AI for faster drug discovery.

It also plans to reach out to more global pharmaceutical companies to build drug discovery capabilities in Hyderabad, while pushing existing pharma GCCs in the city to move towards high-value R&D, clinical development and innovation.

"We are actively rewiring the ecosystem for deep science by building advanced infrastructure and closing skill gaps through industry partnerships," Sarvesh Singh, CEO, Telangana Life Sciences, told ET.