THSTI Symposium Unites Experts to Boost Indigenous mAb Therapeutics

In a major stride toward advancing India’s biotech innovation landscape, the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) hosted a high-level symposium on the Discovery and Development of Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) Therapeutics at its Faridabad campus. The event convened leading voices from the pharmaceutical industry, academic institutions, start-ups, contract research and development manufacturing organizations (CRDMOs), and key funding agencies like BIRAC and the Wadhwani Foundation.

The symposium highlighted the enormous potential of monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and more, while placing strong emphasis on India’s capacity to build an indigenous, affordable, and globally competitive mAb ecosystem.

Setting the Stage: The Call for Collaborative Innovation

In his welcome address, Prof. Jayanta Bhattacharya, Dean at THSTI, underlined the importance of fostering early and sustained partnerships between industry and academia. He stated that such synergies are essential for translating scientific discoveries into cost-effective therapeutic solutions, especially in a country with complex healthcare needs and limited access to biologics.

Echoing this sentiment, Prof. G. Karthikeyan, Executive Director of THSTI, emphasized the need to establish academic-industry clusters that can serve as hotbeds for:

• Innovation acceleration

• Skill development

• Infrastructure utilization

• Talent mobility between sectors

He lauded the current policy environment for being conducive to biotech advancement and called for deeper integration between research and application.

DBT’s Bio-E3 Policy and Vision for mAbs Delivering a key address, Dr. Alka Sharma, Scientist H and Senior Adviser at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, spotlighted the recently launched Bio-E3 policy — short for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, and Employment. She outlined its core objectives:

• Strengthening biotechnological self-reliance

• Reducing import dependency

• Expanding access to high-quality biologics

• Fostering equity in healthcare delivery

Dr. Sharma reaffirmed DBT’s commitment to supporting mAb development through strategic funding and policy support, calling it a “critical pillar in India’s precision medicine future.”

Technical Sessions: Mapping the Present and Future of mAb Science The symposium featured a robust scientific program with three key thematic sessions:

1. Novel Monoclonal Antibody Discovery Platforms

Speakers introduced cutting-edge antibody discovery methodologies:

• Prof. Jayanta Bhattacharya (THSTI): “Novel monoclonal antibody discovery by B-Cell Cloning”

• Dr. Maloy Ghosh (Zumutor Biologics): “Next-generation biologics development through antibody engineering”

• Dr. Kavita Kumari (Syngene): “Mammalian display for antibody screening”

• Dr. Rakesh Kumar (Aragen Life Sciences): “Fit-to-purpose tools for antibody identification”

2. Development of Novel mAbs

Focused on manufacturability, optimization, and development strategy:

• Dr. Priyaranjan Pattanaik (Aurigene): “Antibody architecture and manufacturability”

• Dr. Sridhara Chakraborthy (Syngene): “Effective immunization strategies for successful discovery”

• Dr. Sarika Mehra (IIT Bombay): “CHO host cell line enhancement through directed evolution and omics”

• Dr. Saurabh Joshi (SPARC): “Innovations in antibody-drug conjugates”

3. New Horizons in Monoclonal Antibodies

Highlighting futuristic technologies and cross-disciplinary convergence:

• Dr. Anand Khedkar (Sekkei Bio): “Harnessing Circular RNA to democratize mAb access”

• Dr. Aridni Shah (Immunito AI): “AI-powered design of antibody therapeutics”

These presentations underlined the vast technological diversification in the mAb space—from AI to synthetic biology and next-gen expression systems—as essential levers for both democratization and commercialization.

Panel Discussion: Bio-E3 and the Road Ahead The event concluded with a panel discussion on “Accelerating Discovery and Early Development of Indigenous Therapeutic Solutions using Monoclonal Antibodies under the Bio-E3 Initiative.”

The discussion focused on:

• Bridging funding gaps between early discovery and product development

• Matchmaking academia with biotech entrepreneurs

• Building translational capacity within public institutions

• Creating scalable skill-building platforms for the mAb workforce

Experts collectively advocated for the establishment of “India’s Bio-Clusters”, where knowledge, infrastructure, and funding converge to nurture world-class therapeutic innovation.

A Pathway to Affordable, World-Class Biologics

THSTI’s symposium comes at a pivotal time for India’s biotechnology sector. With growing policy support, a robust talent pipeline, and increasing interest from global investors and collaborators, India is uniquely positioned to become a hub for affordable monoclonal antibody therapies.

By nurturing collaboration, investing in local R&D, and integrating disruptive technologies, India can move from being a biosimilars exporter to a front-runner in novel biologics innovation.