We developed novel mechanisms for crop protection: ATGC Biotech CMD

Hyderabad: Dr Markandeya Gorantla, Chairman and Managing Director, ATGC Biotech Private Limited, on Saturday said that the innovations developed by his company helped India to get a novel mechanism of action for crop protection.

Delivering the first talk on 'Pharma Success Story' on 20th day of the Drug Discovery and Development workshop, Dr Markandeya said that his company specialises in developing biosimilars of class pheromones which can be deployed for behavioural modification in insects and animals.

The Drug Discovery and Development workshop 2023 is being organized by FABA (Federation of Asian Biotech Associations) Academy in collaboration with US-based non-profit organization Science Gurus, and the University of Hyderabad from March 13 to April 2. The workshop, which will conclude on Sunday with a valedictory function, is also supported by the World Trade Center (WTC) Shamshabad and Visakhapatnam.

The company is now working with nine companies globally which are among the top 20 in the world to commercialize ATGC products in crop protection. He mentioned that in 2019, ATGC was one among 1200 companies selected by the Indian government to develop products for replacing insecticides. The company with its expertise in deep-tech solutions has developed a unique genomes to pheromones platform that can contribute towards India reaching $300 billion bio-economy with innovative bio-based eco-friendly solutions for the net zero carbon economy of the New India. Saying that ATGC is committed to making India a global gateway for providing sustainable mating disruption tools, he said ATGC through its innovation in the biomanufacturing of actives for attracting insects can save huge amounts.

According to him, this technology will address the call of Atmanirbhar Bharat and will serve as a platform to improve livelihood and double farmers' income. The policies of the Indian government are attempting to scale down the dependence on pesticides to produce safe food, fodder, and fiber. On this line, ATGC has come up with a technology on mating disruption that brings down the pest population by altering its behaviour. The success of ATGC is mirrored by its active participation with public-funded institutes like JNCASR, ICAR NBAIR, and NCL Pune in developing technologies that are competitive at the global level, he said.

Later, the second talk was delivered by Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues, CEO, Zumutor Biologics. She emphasized that better health through better biologics developed high diversity human antibody libraries to identify novel immunotherapies and improved monoclonal antibodies. She also shared her journey with her previous startup (Inbiopro) which was acquired by a Bangalore-based listed pharma company through a strategic buyout. She also talked about how to build a successful startup and explained about the team building process and making good collaboration, and many others. Her talk also focused on developing targeted NK cell therapeutics, product development in biologics, strategic planning, management, operations, knowledge transition, and successful product delivery. Thereafter, Padmaja Ruparel, Co-founder of Indian Angel Network, delivered third talk on VC funding. She mentioned that her experience spanned large corporates, M&A, and startups/early-stage companies. She was awarded as one of the 'top 50 most powerful women in business' by Fortune India. She covered many important points on investing in startups, building a valuable and sustainable company and the strategy for achieving alpha returns and the current market valuation of IAN-seeded companies. Subsequently, participants gave positive feedback about the Drug Discovery and Development workshop and said the meeting was very helpful for them and they gained lots of knowledge and exposure.