Global pharma cos to outsource in India
Clinical Research outsourcing (CRO) is a young industry worth about 118 million dollars a year in India, but it is growing fast.
By PTI |
LONDON: After the success in IT outsourcing, India is poised to become a clinical research offshoring hub for world's leading pharmaceutical companies.
Clinical Research outsourcing (CRO) is a young industry worth about 118 million dollars a year in India, but it is growing fast.
Analysts predict that it will be worth 380 million dollars by 2010 as American and European companies look to India to cut the cost of drug development.
With costs ranging between 800 million dollars to 1.2 billion dollars from patenting to approval, reducing the length of expensive research means more time to sell the drug before the patent expires and it can be copied by others.
"It's not so much that India has a cost arbitrage," Dr Vasudeo Ginde, President and managing director of iGate Clinical Research, a Nasdaq-listed company was uoted as sying by the daily "The Times'.
"It is that India can save significant time to market. You don't know what is going to be a block-buster when you launch a drug. But even if you save three months, that might mean 100 million dollars or 50 million dollars in sales - in which case, it is worth it."
Most of the big pharmaceutical companies, including Astra-Zeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, conduct drug trials in India.
"It demonstrates the growing importance that India is playing in the sector," Utkarsh Palnitkar, head of the firm's Indian Pharma practice, said.
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