On May 14 and 15, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) held the 6th Meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Biotechnology and Biomedicine, including Human Health and Neuroscience, one of the main scientific cooperation forums among BRICS countries. The meeting took place at the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), in Campinas (SP), and brought together representatives from ministries, funding agencies, universities, and research centers from Brazil, Russia, India, China, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran.
The group aims to boost international collaboration in strategic areas such as vaccine development, advanced therapies, tackling emerging diseases, and pandemic preparedness. It also addresses the application of biotechnology in sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation efforts, as well as joint initiatives in neuroscience and neurotechnology.
The event was part of the official agenda of Brazil’s BRICS presidency in 2025. Over the two days, participants reviewed the progress of joint actions, set priorities, and discussed ways to expand multilateral collaboration on topics such as clinical trials conducted in different member countries, the sharing of data and biological materials, and discussions on bioethics and neuroethics, as well as technologies to tackle emerging diseases, innovations in advanced medicine, and biotechnology applied to agriculture and food security.
According to Professor Bryan Eric Strauss, from the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP) and head of the Viral Vectors Laboratory (LVV) at the São Paulo State Cancer Institute (ICESP): “The event was an opportunity to showcase our expertise and the networks of researchers collaborating with ICESP, such as the C2PO and the National Institute for Gene Therapy – INTERGEN. Moreover, the meeting highlighted the need to strengthen the infrastructure required to conduct translational research on advanced therapy products. The Working Group on Advanced Medicine will continue discussions on implementing facilities for the production of bioactive agents, such as plasmids, viral vectors, and nanoformulations, under good manufacturing practice conditions.”
The program also featured thematic sessions moderated by Brazil and Russia, the co-chair country of the group during this cycle. Participants visited key CNPEM facilities, including Sirius — one of the most advanced synchrotron light sources in the world — the National Laboratories for Biosciences (LNBio) and Nanotechnology (LNNano), and the construction site of Orion, a large high-containment biological complex underway that is set to become the first Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facility in Latin America and the world’s first to be integrated with a particle accelerator.
At the end of the meeting, an official document summarizing the discussions was signed and will be sent to the Science and Technology ministries of the member countries. Among the main resolutions were the recommendation to develop a digital platform for information sharing among the nations and a proposal to establish a working group involving regulatory agencies to align ethical and regulatory guidelines for clinical trials.
Established in 2016, the BRICS Working Group on Biotechnology and Biomedicine aims to promote scientific partnerships to address common challenges in health, innovation, and sustainable development.
