Thermo Fisher finds India the perfect lab; lab equipment maker steps up investments as drug companies focus on innovation

Mumbai: Thermo Fisher Scientific, the US-based maker of high-end lab equipment and automation systems, is accelerating investments in India, seeking to capitalise on sharpening focus of homegrown drugmakers on innovative medicines and growing demand for biosimilars.

Top executives at Thermo Fisher told ET India has recorded the fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region in the past year, and in the coming five years, the company is expecting double-digit returns from this market. They didn't disclose revenue from India and the planned investments.

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Tony Acciarito, president, APMEA, Thermo Fisher Scientific, said categories including bioprocessing and lab analysers, automation systems, and technologies for protein characterisation are seeing strong traction.

"From a biologics perspective today, and where the country will be in the next five years, the investments and the government policies that are in place to accelerate that, we see this as an important driver of the ambition for the region and the country," said Acciarito.

India's biosimilars exports, currently at $800 million, is projected to leap to $4.2 billion by 2030, with the US market in sharp focus, according to a recent BCG report titled 'Built on Scale, Turning to Science'.

Srinath Venkatesh, managing director, Thermo Fisher Scientific India said startups are showing maturity, alongside top and mid-tier companies that are moving into biologics.

Last year, Thermo Fisher unveiled a bioprocess design and customer experience centre in Hyderabad to showcase its most sophisticated equipment aimed at training scientists.