Business in Vancouver – B.C. life sciences companies participate in India trade mission

By Emma Crawford-Hampel 

Three British Columbia life sciences companies spent the last week in India on a trade mission to expand markets for B.C. businesses, the provincial government announced February 19.

IC-IMPACTS, Canada India Network Society and SignalChem Life Sciences Corp. attended the Bangalore India Bio, a biotechnology conference organized by the government of Karnataka, a province in India. The delegates also met with representatives of the Indian biotech and pharmaceutical sectors and research organizations.

“The B.C. government’s life sciences trade mission to Bangalore, India, was an exceptionally well-organized mission that yielded several new partnership opportunities for IC-IMPACTS with both industrial companies and academic institutions in India,” said IC-IMPACTS associate scientific director Dr. Stewart Aitchison.

“The opportunity to engage with these new organizations will significantly aid IC-IMPACTS in successfully delivering its public-health research program. The trade mission has proven to be a very successful event for IC-IMPACTS with tangible outcomes for our centre’s future.”

The provincial government said that exports to India increased 45.1% in 2013 compared with one year prior, and that rapid growth in the life sciences industry is expected due to the country’s expanding middle class.