HLF 2026 Panel Explores the Delicate Balance Between Basic Research and Commercial Innovation, Naresh Nunna of Neo Science Hub, reports.
In a thought-provoking session at the Hyderabad Literary Festival, two of India’s most distinguished scientists engaged in a nuanced dialogue about the future of Indian science, revealing both the nation’s remarkable achievements and the critical gaps that must be addressed to sustain its position as a global biotechnology leader.
The “Pioneering Science” panel, held on Sunday (Jan 25th) afternoon at Sattva Knowledge City in HITEC City, brought together Dr. K. Anand Kumar, Managing Director of Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL), and Dr. Rakesh Kumar Mishra, Director of the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, in conversation with veteran science journalist Maya Sharma. The 50-minute discussion before a packed audience explored fundamental questions about what drives scientific innovation and how India can better translate laboratory breakthroughs into products that transform lives.
Products vs. Discovery
The session opened with a revealing philosophical debate that underscored the complementary nature of applied and basic research—two approaches often portrayed as competing rather than collaborative.
Dr. Anand Kumar, whose career spans over three decades in vaccine development and biotechnology commercialization, articulated a “product-first” philosophy that has guided IIL’s remarkable trajectory. “Science achieves its highest value when it results in a tangible product—like a vaccine—that directly improves the human condition,” he argued, pointing to IIL’s portfolio of life-saving interventions that now reach over 60 countries worldwide.
Dr. Rakesh Kumar Mishra, whose laboratory at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) focuses on epigenetics and genome organization, offered a counterpoint rooted in the “excitement of the unknown.” With 95+ peer-reviewed publications to his name, Mishra emphasized that basic research—while lacking immediate commercial applications—provides the foundational knowledge that makes future innovations possible.
“Understanding gene networks, chromatin organization, and regulatory mechanisms may not have obvious societal applications today,” Mishra explained, “but this knowledge creates the platform upon which tomorrow’s therapies will be built.”
Rather than representing opposing viewpoints, the exchange illuminated the essential ecosystem required for sustained innovation: curiosity-driven research that expands the boundaries of knowledge, coupled with application-focused development that translates discoveries into accessible products.
India’s Vaccine Triumph: From Tapeworms to COVID-19
Dr. Anand Kumar’s presentation of IIL’s achievements provided compelling evidence of India’s capacity for world-class applied research and manufacturing at scale.
The development of Cysvax—the world’s first tapeworm vaccine—exemplifies the public health impact of targeted vaccine development. Kumar revealed a startling statistic that underscored the vaccine’s significance: tapeworm infestations, transmitted from pigs to humans, are responsible for 50% of epilepsy cases globally. By preventing these parasitic infections, Cysvax addresses a massive neurological disease burden that disproportionately affects developing nations.
“This is not just a vaccine; it’s a massive public health victory,” Kumar stated, noting that the innovation emerged from understanding a specific disease pathway and engineering a preventive solution.
IIL’s COVID-19 response further demonstrated India’s “unmatched delivery speed” in vaccine production. Under Kumar’s leadership, the company produced 30 million doses in record time, earning recognition from the Government of India and contributing to the nation’s position as the “pharmacy of the world.”
The company’s broader portfolio—including India’s first Hepatitis A vaccine, pentavalent vaccines, and recombinant biotech products ranging from human insulin to erythropoietin—has established IIL as the world’s largest producer of human anti-rabies vaccine. Kumar’s contributions have earned him a place among the top 40 biopharmaceutical industry influencers globally and an honorary Doctorate of Science from Saveetha Institute in 2024.
Genome Editing Debate
Dr. Mishra’s discussion of genome editing technologies provided one of the session’s most nuanced and ethically grounded perspectives on biotechnology’s future applications.
Addressing the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technology and related gene-editing tools, Mishra drew clear distinctions between acceptable and problematic applications:
The “No-Go” Zone: Germline Editing
Mishra strongly cautioned against germline editing—genetic modifications that would be passed to future generations. “We do not yet understand the whole network of human biology,” he emphasized. “Altering genes that will be inherited creates risks we cannot fully predict or control.”
This position aligns with the scientific consensus following the controversial 2018 case of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who created the world’s first gene-edited babies and was subsequently imprisoned for violating ethical guidelines.
Somatic Therapy and Agriculture
In contrast, Mishra advocated strongly for somatic gene therapy—treatments targeting specific cells like muscle tissue or stem cells that affect only the individual patient. “These interventions can cure genetic diseases without creating heritable changes,” he noted, pointing to successful treatments for conditions like sickle cell disease and certain forms of blindness.
Perhaps most emphatically, Mishra championed agricultural biotechnology as both ethically sound and urgently necessary. “Genetic editing in crops is more natural than chemical insecticides,” he argued, framing the technology as an environmentally superior alternative to conventional pest control methods.
With India’s freshwater resources under increasing pressure, Mishra called for “fast-forwarding” efforts to create pest-resistant, water-efficient rice varieties through genetic modification. “We cannot afford to wait decades for traditional breeding methods when climate change is accelerating,” he stated, positioning agricultural gene editing as a climate adaptation imperative.
Accelerating Discovery
Both speakers acknowledged the transformative impact of artificial intelligence and bioinformatics on biological research, with Mishra highlighting a particularly dramatic example of technological acceleration.
“AI can now predict protein structures from DNA sequences in hours—a process that used to take years,” Mishra explained, referencing breakthroughs like DeepMind’s AlphaFold system, which solved a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology by accurately predicting protein folding patterns.
This computational revolution enables researchers to rapidly identify drug targets, design vaccines, and understand disease mechanisms without years of laboratory crystallography work. The technology has particular relevance for India, where computational resources can partially compensate for gaps in expensive laboratory infrastructure.
From Lab to Market
Despite India’s scientific capabilities and entrepreneurial energy, both speakers identified a critical weakness in the nation’s innovation ecosystem: the “hand-holding gap” between laboratory discovery and commercial viability.
“India has thousands of startups,” Kumar noted, “but many collapse before reaching the market.” The transition from promising research to regulatory approval, manufacturing scale-up, and market distribution requires expertise, capital, and institutional support that many young companies lack.
The panel called for enhanced support from government-funded organizations to help scientists and entrepreneurs navigate this treacherous “valley of death”—the period between initial funding and commercial sustainability where most innovations fail.
This support infrastructure exists in more mature biotechnology ecosystems like those in the United States, Israel, and Singapore, where government agencies, university technology transfer offices, and specialized incubators provide structured pathways from bench to bedside.
Safety Cannot Be Compromised
Addressing concerns about India’s lengthy and expensive regulatory approval processes, Dr. Anand Kumar provided a sobering perspective on why rigorous oversight remains non-negotiable.
“A single disaster in vaccine production would result in catastrophic public mistrust,” Kumar emphasized, referencing historical incidents where contaminated or inadequately tested products caused deaths and set back public health programs by decades.
The regulatory framework—while time-consuming and costly—serves as the essential quality assurance mechanism that maintains public confidence in vaccines and biologics. Kumar noted that IIL’s success in exporting to over 60 countries depends on meeting stringent international regulatory standards, not just domestic requirements.
The challenge, both speakers agreed, lies in streamlining processes without compromising safety—accelerating timelines through better coordination, clearer guidelines, and adequate regulatory agency staffing, rather than lowering standards.
The Longevity Dividend
The session concluded with a powerful reminder of science’s cumulative impact on human welfare. A century ago, global life expectancy hovered around 40 years; today it approaches 80 in many countries, including India where it has reached approximately 70 years.
“This doubling of human lifespan is the direct result of the pioneering science we’ve discussed,” Kumar stated, attributing the gains to vaccines that eliminated childhood killers, agricultural innovations that ended famines, antibiotics that conquered bacterial infections, and the deeper understanding of pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 that enabled rapid pandemic response.
This historical perspective reframed the session’s debates about research philosophy, regulatory processes, and commercialization challenges as components of a larger project: extending not just the length but the quality of human life through scientific innovation.
Bridging Discovery and Delivery
The “Pioneering Science” session crystallized a central challenge for India’s scientific ambitions: the nation possesses world-class research institutions, a growing biotechnology industry, and entrepreneurial energy, but lacks the connective tissue that transforms these assets into sustained innovation leadership.
Key recommendations that emerged from the discussion include:
- Strengthened institutional support for translating laboratory discoveries into commercial products, particularly through government-funded “hand-holding” programs
- Strategic investment in basic research that expands foundational knowledge, even when immediate applications are unclear
- Regulatory modernization that maintains safety standards while reducing unnecessary delays through better coordination and clearer pathways
- Ethical frameworks for emerging technologies like genome editing that distinguish between acceptable applications (somatic therapy, agricultural biotechnology) and problematic ones (germline modification)
- AI and computational infrastructure to accelerate discovery and partially compensate for gaps in physical laboratory resources
- Public engagement to build understanding of both the promise and limitations of biotechnology, maintaining trust while managing expectations
As India positions itself as a global biotechnology hub—building on its pharmaceutical manufacturing prowess and growing research capabilities—the insights shared at this HLF 2026 session provide a roadmap for navigating the complex terrain between scientific discovery and societal impact.
The session demonstrated that pioneering science requires not just brilliant researchers or entrepreneurial manufacturers, but an integrated ecosystem where curiosity-driven inquiry, application-focused development, regulatory oversight, and public trust work in concert to transform knowledge into human welfare.
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