Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao, BMS Executive VP Samit Hirawat with state government and company officials, in Hyderabad on February 23. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bristol-Myers Squibb has decided to set up a science and technology innovation center in Hyderabad with an investment of $100 million to expand its global drug development and digital innovation capabilities.
This will be the biopharmaceutical major’s first such facility in India and will help develop capabilities in multiple areas associated with drug development, from regulatory, biostatistics, operations to clinical science, said Executive VP & Chief Medical Officer, Global Drug Development, Samit Hirawat said during an MoU was signed with the Telangana government on Thursday, February 23, in the presence of Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao in Hyderabad.
“As we think about our global presence, one of the missing pieces is to be in India, where there is an emerging ecosystem from a healthcare perspective, amazing talent,” he said, adding that Hyderabad’s landscape There has been an amazing change. Last 4-5 years. “When we got the team here in January and went back, there was no question in our mind where to go,” he said.
To invest $100 million over the next 3 years
BMS plans to start operating the facility by 2023, which will employ approximately 1,500 people. On investment, he said it would be $100 million over the next three years. While BMS has a commercial presence and works closely with other companies in the country, with the Center it will make its presence felt in India from a drug development perspective, he said.
Elaborating on the proposed work, Dr. Heerawat said that over the next three years, 1,500 people would be hired, bringing in talent ranging from expertise in information technology, medical writing, regulatory process and statistical programmers, to operations apart from physicians. There will be a diverse group of pools. , The facility, which is likely to be named the Science and Technology Innovation Center, “will help with our global drug development process as well as IT processes,” he said, adding that over time it could evolve into multiple functions.
At the location in Hyderabad, he said the process is underway and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of the year.
Welcoming BMS to the vibrant life science ecosystem of the city, the Minister urged the company to explore the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility. Mr. Rao said that the state government is in the process of setting up Hyderabad Pharma City, which will be one of the largest pharma clusters globally.