The Government of Telangana has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with King’s College London in the presence of the Minister for Industries and Commerce, Government of Telangana Mr KT Rama Rao in connection to the Pharma University at Hyderabad Pharma City.
The MoU was signed today, as part of the Telangana delegation’s visit to UK led by Minister, Principal Secretary Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, and Professor Richard Trembath, Senior Vice President (Health & Life Sciences) and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners.
The visit also provided an opportunity to discuss shared ambitions and future collaborations between the State and King’s College London, with a particular focus on Telangana’s Pharma City – a cluster for industry and academic innovation currently in development.
The MoU envisages collaborative research projects, staff, and student exchanges, as well as curriculum development and honing skills.
Mr KLTR said Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana, is an international life Sciences and tech hub, producing a third of the world’s vaccines and hosting the secondary offices of some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, amongst others. The current Telangana life sciences ecosystem has a value of $50billion. The partnership fostered between King’s and Telangana will help to support the vision for Pharma City, of which the creation of a life sciences higher education provision forms a key element of this vision – drawing together innovation, research, and development, excellence.
Minister KTR’s visit to London follows an engaging trip to India by King’s delegates, including the President and Principal of King’s College London last month, spearheaded by the British Council as part of its focus to strengthen HE sectors through internationalisation in both India and the UK.
Professor Shitij Kapur, President & Principal of King’s College London said:
“King’s is a global university and is proud of our academic partnerships and high-impact research collaborations with India. These include an anthropological research study with India’s flagship cancer hospital, Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, and the King’s India Institute, an interdisciplinary centre for research, education, and public engagement on contemporary India launched in 2012.
Mr KTR said: “Spread across 19,000 acres, Hyderabad Pharma City will be the world’s largest pharma cluster and the establishment of a Life Sciences & Pharma University is an integral part of the Pharma City vision. With Telangana’s life sciences ecosystem estimated at USD 50 bn, combined with King’s College London’s world-leading expertise in research and training, I’m hopeful that this collaboration will deliver mutually beneficial partnerships for both Telangana and the UK.”
Sir Steve Smith, the UK government’s International Education Champion, said:
“I am delighted that King’s College London and the Government of Telangana are embarking on the first step of this hugely important partnership. UK Government is committed to supporting deep and meaningful teaching and research partnerships that not only bring benefit to the UK and India but to a global community as well.