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County Supervisor returns from India with biotech partnership
By: Makena Huey, September 20, 2024
Ventura County Supervisor Jeff Gorell and a group of regional biotechnology 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 have entered into a partnership aimed at supporting small to medium-sized enterprises by improving access to funding and resources.
From Aug. 5 to 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.”
Speaking with several of the roughly 20 life science firms in Thousand Oaks, the District 2 supervisor discovered the companies were interested in expanding opportunities in India, home to one of the world’s fastest-growing biotech markets, with advancements in medical devices, regenerative medicine, personalized healthcare and pharmaceutical production. It is on track to become a $150 billion sector by 2025, according to media reports.
Gorell organized the trip with the help of two local nonprofits: Economic Development Collaborative, a private nonprofit, founded in 1996 with funding from the County of Ventura and its 10 cities to provide a pathway to business growth and economic prosperity; and BioScience Alliance, a nonprofit focused on serving the life science industry along the 101 Corridor, from the West San Fernando Valley north to the greater 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 grow, that’s when 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 executives from the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, the innovation arm of India’s department of biotechnology; Biocon Limited, the country’s largest biopharmaceutical company; and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
Gorell and the others on the trip also met with the U.S. ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, to discuss regulations for life science companies in the U.S. and Indian companies’ interest in the U.S. market. Gorell worked under Garcetti, the former mayor of Los Angeles, as deputy mayor from 2015 to 2022.
The trip identified Indian companies interested in purchasing U.S. products, establishing research and development partnerships and expanding into the U.S. market.
“To position our region as a global biotech hub, Ventura’s biotech firms must expand their reach internationally,” said Simona Racek, a trade specialist for the Economic Development Collaborative who attended the trip. “By fostering these global connections, we are paving the way for groundbreaking developments that will benefit both economies and contribute to the global healthcare landscape.”
Building on the work he did in India, Gorell helped draft an agreement of ongoing collaboration among the Economic Development Collaborative, 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 endorsed by of the County of Ventura District 2 and the BioScience Alliance
The supervisor also invited key individuals he met in India to visit Ventura County for a biotech conference in April.
The trip was made possible by funding from the U.S. Commercial Service, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Organization of Women in International Trade Orange County.
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