BioAsia 2025: 11 pharma firms pledge Rs 5,445 crore into Green Pharma City

Hyderabad: From partnering with the University of Queensland for AI-driven healthcare to 11 pharma companies signing MoUs with the Government of Telangana for creating 9,800 jobs in the State, BioAsia 2025 kickstarted with a plethora of investment and growth opportunities.

The 22nd edition of Asia’s largest life sciences and healthcare conference, themed ‘Catalysts of Change – Expanding Global Healthcare Frontiers, Transforming Healthcare with Innovation, Collaboration and Progress’ was inaugurated by chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday. The conference was also launched by Dr Jeannette Young, Governor of Queensland, and D Sridhar Babu, minister for Industries and Commerce, along with other dignitaries.

Investments announced at BioAsia

The first day of the BioAsia 2025 conference witnessed a major boost for Telangana in terms of the number of investments.

Green Pharma City adds 11 more companies

One of the major announcements was regarding 11 pharma companies coming forward to sign up for the Green Pharma City, a flagship initiative of the Government of Telangana. As many as six companies have already signed MoUs with the government earlier. The 11 companies that signed up on Tuesday—Granules, Orbicular, Aizant, Biological E, Virchow, Virupaksha, Jubilant, Vimta, Aragen, Bharat Biotech and Sai Life Sciences—will be bringing an investment of Rs 5,445 crore and creating 9,800 new jobs.

With these commitments, the total investment in Green Pharma City now stands at Rs 11,100 crore, with employment opportunities exceeding 22,300.

Global pharma leaders open operations in Hyderabad

Many global giants in the industry spoke about opening new offices and expanding operational hubs in Hyderabad soon.

The Telangana Government welcomed MSD, based in the USA, to Telangana and promised to provide unmatched technology and life sciences capabilities to help accelerate its growth. Similarly, Agilisium, a company based out of Los Angeles, launched its new office at RMZ Spire in Hyderabad. The company also established a Life Sciences and Innovation and Talent Development Lab.

Two companies and Meishi Pharma announced setting up new units in Hyderabad during the summit.

ALS—a global leader in testing, inspection, certification and verification solutions—will be establishing a state-of-the-art Bio Pharma cGMP testing lab in Genome Valley. Meishi Pharma—a Lotus Company will be setting up its second R&D centre in Hyderabad under its new Indian subsidiary, Meishi Pharma Services Pvt Ltd.

Strategic partnerships with the research hubs

Apart from signing agreements with multinational companies, the Telangana State government also joined hands with scientific hubs to advance the Life Sciences ecosystem.

The Telangana Life Sciences branch signed off on a Letter of Intent with the University of Queensland to collaborate on cutting-edge research, digital healthcare and AI-driven innovations. With the intent to accelerate public-private collaboration in digital health, the Telangana government will be a host to the Indian Digital Health Activator—a first-of-its-kind initiative by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Telangana will be the first hub under the activator framework focused on bridging supply and demand side gaps, creating opportunities for a robust digital health ecosystem.

Similarly, 11 leading contract research and development organisations came together with a shared vision to advance industry needs, collaborate with the government for a favourable regulatory environment, nurture world-class talent and strengthen the supply chain ecosystem.

10 Pharma Villages will create over 5 lakh jobs, says CM

Speaking at the event, CM Revanth Reddy explained the development of road infrastructure around Hyderabad in the form of a 160-km long ORR and a blueprint for the Regional Ring Road (RRR) of 360 km for building manufacturing hubs.

“We will develop Hyderabad and Telangana into one of the largest ecosystems for biosciences, biotech and life sciences innovation, R&D, manufacturing, skill development and investment. We are developing 10 Pharma Villages between ORR and RRR which will generate over 5 lakh jobs. The Green Pharma city is also a key initiative under the Future City Project and is progressing rapidly. We have already signed six MoUs and another 11 MOUs today to create more jobs for the youth,” the CM said.

The chief minister also mentioned the launch of a new Life Sciences Policy ‘which will chart a bold new growth trajectory for the sector.’ “With this, we will enter new domains such as cell and gene therapy, genomics, biologics, precision medicine, peptides, digital innovation, advanced R&D and complex manufacturing,” he added.

He acknowledged the role the BioAsia summit has played over the years in helping make Hyderabad the global Life Sciences capital of the country. “The city of Hyderabad has a long history of excellence in healthcare, biosciences, life sciences, pharma, bulk drugs, generics, contract manufacturing and biotech industries,” he said.

51,000 direct jobs and 1,50,000 indirect jobs in the Life Sciences sector

Sridhar Babu spoke about how Telangana has witnessed a huge surge of investments from several international and domestic companies who have chosen Telangana as the gateway to India which is rapidly growing in terms of the life sciences ecosystem.

“From pharma manufacturing and R&D centres to GCC innovation hubs, we have witnessed several global life sciences companies open operations in the city and have created more than 51,000 direct jobs and 1,50,000 indirect jobs over here,” he said.

Elaborating on the recent investments, the minister said, “We have inaugurated Amgen’s largest innovation centre on Monday along with Miltenyi, a cutting-edge cell and gene therapy centre. As we look to the future, our focus remains steadfast on skilling and workforce development. We have established the Young India Skills University which will focus on covering this gap.”

“By collaborating closely with GCC Hyderabad we are designing a specialised curriculum in science and technology ensuring our talent remains globally competitive and future-ready. I am delighted to share that the first batch of the chemistry skill programme successfully concluded this month. We are determined to insert Telangana into the global pharma supply chain as a key player in terms of bulk drugs and also in generic pharma and be a world leader in the life sciences space,” he added.

Industry experts discussed AI in healthcare and innovations in Life Sciences

The inaugural day also featured many insightful panel discussions. The session on AI Transformation in Healthcare brought together eminent speakers such as Dr Ken Washington, CTO, Medtronic and Dr Nageshwar Reddy, chairman and founder of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG).

Another panel discussion ‘Innovations Shaping the Future of the Global Life Sciences Landscape’ featured distinguished speakers such as Dr Shekar Mande, former Director General, CSIR and Sandhya Sreepathy, head of Novartis Biomedical Research.

Genome Valley Excellence Award 2025 was conferred upon renowned cancer researcher Dr Patrick Tan. He is the chief scientific officer at the Genome Institute in Singapore the executive director of PRECISE, Singapore and senior vice dean (Research) at Duke–NUS Medical College.

BioAsia is Asia’s leading life sciences and healthcare forum, bringing together global industry leaders, scientists, innovators, and policymakers to discuss the latest advancements in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and technology. Since its inception, BioAsia has served as a dynamic platform for fostering collaboration, promoting innovation and driving growth in the Life Sciences sector.