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Sri Lanka Institute of Biotechnology Park and the Research arm will be located on a 100 acre area assigned in Pitipana, Homagama where Sri Lanka Institute of Nano Technology (SLINTEC) is also housed
Sri Lanka is bracing for a global biotechnology boom as the Government spearheads key initiatives with private sector participation.
The recently set-up Sri Lanka Institute of Biotechnology Ltd., (SLIBTEC), a Government-owned company, under the purview of Ministry of Technology and thereby State Ministry of Digital Technology and Entrepreneur Development, is tasked with championing the country’s ambitious foray into commercially harnessing biological processes for industrial and other purposes.
SLIBTEC’s primary objective is to promote biotech research and innovation in Sri Lanka and to support the development of biotech industries. SLIBTEC facilitates a state-of-the-art research and innovation ecosystem to increase biotech product exports. SLIBTEC is an ecosystem conducive for high-end biotech innovation created by the continued adoption of cutting-edge technologies in dedicated facilities with support systems, enabling a vibrant research, development and innovation culture. Further, by including customised biotechnology incubation and manufacturing in one physical location, while adhering to global best practices, including sustainability concepts in all spheres of activities, SLIBTEC provides a linear research and development platform for the biotechnology business.
The SLIBTEC will concomitantly be developed as two main components: SLIBTEC Park and SLIBTEC Research.
To kick off the initiative, Expression of Interests (EOIs) have been called to set up the SLIBTEC Park at Pitipana – Homagama. The innovation park is aimed at setting up hi-tech biotech industries to produce globally competitive products and services for local and international markets.
The Park will span around 13 acres of the total area assigned (100 acres) for SLIBTEC and will have essential facilities for biotechnology manufacturing and start-up operations adhering to green concepts. Basic requirements such as infra-roads, water, electricity, communication, waste management and environmental approvals are included in the innovation park facility package. Office and lab space for start-up operations and warehouse facilities will be leased on a long-term basis to private biotech entities. The SLIBTEC Park benefits from being located in an environment with other high-end technologies, including cutting-edge research and development, and independently functioning core facility that will synergise the innovation ecosystem for high-end developments.
EOIs are invited on or before 16 August, from qualified companies, to be a tenant of SLIBTEC, to manufacture biotech products in the SLIBTEC Park, and to utilise incubator and warehouse facilities.
Incentives offered include all taxes during project implementation period being waived off, green channel for customs clearance, double tax deduction for R&D, BOI status if required, fast track for company registration, NMRA approvals, and quality standards as one-stop shop services for manufacturing entrepreneurs, while warehouse and waste management facilities and high-end contract research capability is also inbuilt.
SLIBTEC Chief Operating Officer Amali Ranasinghe told the Daily FT that the global high-end biotechnology products market was estimated to be worth $ 497 billion in 2020 and forecast to grow to $ 729 billion or more by 2025.
To tap into this massive growth opportunity, SLIBTEC Park aims to be a global hotspot for the biotechnology business, by helping companies anticipate and seize new opportunities. She said that a unique and comprehensive set of assets would be entrenched in compliance with global standards and made available for entrepreneurs on a use-and-pay basis. The ready-to-use land with all core facilities, the centralised multidisciplinary research, and the incubator, warehouse and pilot plant facilities required for quality manufacturing, will facilitate the engagement of technology frontrunners and venture capitalists, which will in turn create a hypercompetitive yet collaborative culture for sustainable business.
The incubator facility is designed to accelerate the growth of biotechnology entrepreneurs, from the idea to commercialisation phase, creating novel biotechnology industries. The Park supports established companies and start-ups with a unique and comprehensive balance of technology support, R&D capabilities, and government regulatory needs, through a one-stop-shop via accelerated services.
The second initiative SLIBTEC Research platform will support is World-class research and innovation through the provision of cutting-edge resources, including state-of-the-art laboratories equipped with the most current instrumentation for biotechnology research, along with top notch resource pools in a range of biotechnology research sectors, for strategic development, through to day-to-day services, towards achieving the next break through.
SLIBTEC Research is modelled on a multidisciplinary, collegiate approach to pursuing scientific excellence towards propelling innovation, while safeguarding intellectual property. Outcome-oriented innovative research is designed with business leaders at hand, in a widely engaged research and development ecosystem including international collaborators. SLIBTEC supports new paradigms in advanced biotechnology research. The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) will partner with SLIBTEC Research as the ICGEB Regional Research Centre (RRC) for South Asia after following due procedures. This will facilitate a platform to transfer technologies via ICGEB for biotech manufacturing in the SLIBTEC Park.
“SLIBTEC’s overall vision is to be the driving force for an innovation-led bioeconomy in Sri Lanka, while being an internationally preferred destination for biotechnology,” Ranasinghe said, adding that SLIBTEC’s mission is to “create a state-of-the-art biotech innovation ecosystem in one physical location while working synergistically with other hi-tech sectors towards increasing novel biotechnology products and services that would significantly enhance Sri Lanka’s economy, whilst enhancing and retaining a skilled human resource pool to position Sri Lanka as a global biotech hub.”
Ranasinghe said that Sri Lanka’s strategic location being closer to the ‘dynamic Asia’, its growing talent pool of productive, qualified and skilled personnel with almost every university having biotech facilities and offering degree programmes for both undergraduate and postgraduate, its strong IP safeguards and conducive business environment, were some of the key attractions global investors and companies might consider in setting up in Sri Lanka.
“Our overall goal is to quadruple biotech exports from a low base of 1% of total export at present, triple industrial output and double the employment within the sector,” SLIBTEC COO added. In its quest to make its mark in the global biotech space, Sri Lanka has drawn inspiration and learnings from the successful strategies pursued by Singapore, India, Pakistan, USA and Europe among others.
The forerunner for the establishment of SLIBTEC was the first ever national conference on biotech way back in 2014. This also led to the setting up of the National Biotechnology Industry Association (NBIA) in 2017 under the aegis of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce by COSTI. The SLIBTEC Board Chaired by Secretary to the Treasury S.R. Attygalle comprises public and private sector representatives.
