July 25, 2003
Source: Siliconindia News
Biotech companies start to eye Kerala

IANS
Friday, July 25, 2003

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Known for its rich biodiversity and huge reserves of herbs, Kerala is suddenly catching the eye of biotechnology companies.

Bangalore-based Avesthagen has just arrived in the state seeking to "co-develop new products".

"We have come into Kerala to foster a long-term relationship to co-develop new products because we are basically an intellectual property rights-driven company," said Avesthagen founder and CEO Villoo M. Patell.

"We want an MoU (memorandum of understanding) to be signed with the Kerala government, one that is straight and simple."

Set up three years ago, Avesthagen is into promoting research and development (R&D) relationships and services worldwide.

Patell told IANS: "I will be back in six weeks and until then I wouldn't like to reveal anything more on what sort of relationship we would have. Kerala has tremendous potential in this arena."

Kerala is considered a storehouse of precious herbs and aromatic plants but does not have much documented literature on this resource. State officials said this was where companies like Avesthagen could help.

The state's special officer for biotechnology Rajiv Vasudevan said firms like Avesthagen would work closely with several state and central institutions in Kerala like the Tropical Botanical Garden Research Institute, Regional Research Laboratory and Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.