Scientists at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali have won the nationally recognized National Bio-entrepreneurship Competition 2024 (NBEC 2024). NBEC 2024, organized by C-CAMP in collaboration with BIRAC, is one of the most prestigious biotech competitions in the country and saw participation of over 3000 participants from across India. The NIPER team was awarded for their novel biopharmaceutical product, BiSpekDAb™, an engineered bispecific antibody designed to block TNF-α and IL-23 cytokines, key factors in various inflammatory conditions.
BiSpekDAb™ is being developed by the Proteome Biopharmaceutical Lab, led by Dr. Abhay H. Pandey, Professor, Department of Biotechnology, in collaboration with Dr. Shyam S. Sharma, Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. BiSpekDAb™, recognized for its significant potential to reduce asthma inflammation, was presented by PhD scholar Mr. Sandeep and won the Grand Finale of the competition under the category ‘Drug Discovery and Development’. The technology was appreciated by the distinguished jury members and awarded a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh by Shri Priyank Kharge, Minister of IT-BT and Rural Development.
Professor Pandey, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field, emphasized the growing importance of protein biopharmaceuticals in healthcare and their important role in strengthening the Indian bio-economy. His lab is actively engaged in the development of various biopharmaceuticals targeting multiple diseases, with antibody programs being a major focus. Professor Pandey’s vision is to reduce India’s dependence on drug imports and move the country towards self-reliance in healthcare. He said, Indian biopharmaceutical research has immense potential and will play a vital role in driving the country’s bio-economy forward. The success of BiSpekDAb™ is just one example of the progress we are making.
Commenting on this success, Professor Sharma said that there is a high prevalence rate of inflammatory disorders in India and globally, and effective biologics like BiSpekDAb™ can provide a much-needed solution for inflammation-induced conditions like asthma. His Masters student, Chirag Gala demonstrated the possibilities of BiSpekDAb in an asthma model.
This technology has already been patented and is to undergo further pre-clinical studies in collaboration with Professor Sharma, aimed at testing it for effectiveness in various other inflammatory conditions. The team's next goal is to take this technology to the Investigational New Drug (IND) application stage, and all necessary steps will be taken to make BiSpekDAb™ available across the country in the future.