FORMING ALLIANCES — Supervisor Jeff Gorell, third from left, returned from India, where he met with U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti, center, under whom he worked in the city of Los Angeles, and representatives of Indian biotech agencies. Courtesy of Supervisor Jeff Gorell’s office
Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell and a group of regional biotech executives traveled to India last month to promote Ventura County as an ideal location for business expansion and foreign investment.
As a result of the trip, an Indian biotech industry council and local organizations entered into a partnership aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises by improving access to finance and resources.
Between August 5 and 9, the group fostered relationships with the country’s industry leaders and government officials in an effort to improve trade relations.
The trip was part of the Gold Team Ventura County project, a business promotion initiative that Gorell launched in November.
“It can only be defined as extraordinary and enthusiastic,” Gorell said of India’s biotech industry. “We can learn a lot from them and vice versa.”
In speaking with several of the 20 or so life science firms in Thousand Oaks, the District 2 supervisor found that the companies are interested in expanding opportunities in India, home to one of the world’s fastest-growing biotech markets, with advances in medical devices, regenerative medicine, personalized healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing. It is on track to become a $150 billion industry by 2025, according to media reports.
Gorell organized the trip with the help of two local nonprofits: the Economic Development Collaborative, a private nonprofit founded in 1996 with funding from Ventura County and its 10 cities to provide a path to business growth and economic prosperity; and BioScience Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on serving the life sciences industry along the 101 Corridor, from the western San Fernando Valley north to the Santa Barbara area.
Representatives from five of the area’s biotech companies – Amgen, Photothermal Spectroscopy, FOMAT Medical Research, Afecta Pharmaceuticals and E-Control Systems – joined Gorell on the trade mission.
“When their executive team and their research and development grows, then Ventura County grows, and that’s what I’m interested in,” Gorell said of the organizations.
Over five days, the team visited New Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
The delegation met with executives from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, the innovation arm of India’s biotechnology department; Biocon Limited, the largest biopharmaceutical company in the country; and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, one of the most important pharmaceutical companies in the country.
Gorell and others on the trip also met with US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti to discuss regulations for US life science companies and Indian companies’ interest in the US market. Gorell served under Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, as deputy mayor from 2015 to 2022.
The trip identified Indian companies interested in sourcing products from the US, establishing R&D partnerships and expanding into the US market.
“To position our region as a global biotech hub, Ventura biotech firms need to expand their international reach,” said Simona Racek, trade specialist for the Economic Development Collaborative who attended the trip. “By fostering these global connections, we are paving the way for innovative developments that will benefit both economies and contribute to the global healthcare landscape.”
Building on the work he did in India, Gorell helped develop an ongoing collaborative agreement between the Economic Development Collaborative, the BioScience Alliance, and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council. A letter of intent signed by both entities outlines joint efforts in research and development, knowledge exchange, entrepreneurial programs and funding opportunities. The collaboration is supported by Ventura County Sector 2 and the BioScience Alliance
The supervisor also invited key people he met in India to visit Ventura County for a biotech conference in April.
The trip was made possible by funding from the US Commercial Service, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Orange County Women in International Trade.
#County #supervisor #returns #India #biotech #partnership
