The city council of South San Francisco city represented by IIT-M alumnus Dr Pradeep Gupta has proposed a collaboration between the Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC), a multidisciplinary research and development centre at IIT-M, and life sciences firms in South San Francisco involved in cutting edge research in disciplines ranging from oncology to neurodegenerative diseases.

South San Francisco city is known as a global biotech hub that houses companies like Genentech, Merck and Johnson & Johnson. The collaboration would be between three categories of companies and the university — startups, mid-sized companies looking to outsource R&D projects and bigger companies which require a fresh a pipeline of drugs and technology.

Dr. Pradeep Gupta, who served as the Mayor of South San Francisco city in 2017 is also keen for HTIC to sign MoUs with earlystage Google-funded startups like Verily and Calico, apart from traditional drug manufacturers looking to revive their product lines.