<p>The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its Distinguished Alumnus Mr Raj Nair (BTech, Metallurgical and Material Science Engineering, 1971) and its fellow alumni organization IIT Bombay Alumni Association (IITBAA) for the construction of a sophisticated Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Lab at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering (BSBE) on January 27, 2022. The MoU was signed by IIT Bombay’s Director Prof. Subhasis Chaudhari, the donor Mr. Raj Nair and IITBAA’s CEO Ms. Latha Venkitachalam. Mr. Nair has committed to donate a substantial undisclosed amount to IIT Bombay for this purpose, and also program manage its implementation with help from Mr. Ajit Jawle, a fellow alum and expert in GMP systems. Mr. Nair has offered to also guide the researchers on the commercial aspects of the go-to-market strategy using his experience as a strategy consultant.</p><p>The proposed facility located at the BSBE department is expected to facilitate the progression of breakthrough translational research from the laboratory stage to the market by manufacturing materials required for human clinical trials. This facility will be used by the researchers in BSBE and other departments on campus to manufacture nanomaterials, tissue-engineered grafts, CAR-T constructs, drug nanoparticles, etc. for conducting clinical trials. Several IIT Bombay faculty members specialize in these areas and the GMP lab can help shorten the time it takes to get their life-saving solutions to the market. Mr. Nair’s vision for this initiative is that India and IIT Bombay become a place where the output of the research will result in bold and impactful solutions for the masses that facilitate a 10X improvement - better, cheaper, and faster - than the existing solutions anywhere in the world, so that thousands of patients suffering from difficult-to-treat diseases will benefit.</p>