TCS eyes deals in life sciences, healthcare space

NEW DELHI: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country���s largest IT services firm, is exploring new avenues in the life sciences and healthcare space, while demand from existing clients gains momentum. Outsourcing analysts say there are deals worth $300-400 million in the market at various stages of negotiations.

Life sciences and healthcare is the sixth-largest vertical for TCS and accounted for 5.2% of the firm���s revenues at the end of fiscal year 2008-09. TCS provides offerings in the areas of clinical trial data management, pharmacovigilance and medical device design, besides software and solutions to aid drug discovery.

There are multiple small deals ranging between $25-50 million and a couple of large $100 million deals by American pharma firms in the market, said an outsourcing analyst, asking not to be named. ���The sector has not been impacted so much by the economic slowdown but is in the middle of a flux. This presents an opportunity for outsourcing firms,��� he said. TCS vice-president and global life sciences and healthcare head Debashis Ghosh said the firm was exploring venturing into claims processing and other knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) work in the healthcare insurance area as well as genome analysis.

Work in the area of genomics, which focuses on determining the entire DNA sequence of an organism, is already on at the firm���s innovation laboratory in Hyderabad. ���Genome analysis could help ascertain what diseases a person is prone to and thus, lead to timely prevention and care,��� Mr Ghosh said. Meanwhile, the software services firm is also seeing strong demand from its traditional clients ��� pharma companies and healthcare providers. Mr Ghosh says there is increased pressure on pharma companies to improve R&D productivity as the specter of patent expiry looms large over them. One implication of that is pharma companies doing more clinical trials to assess the safety and efficacy of the drug. At the same time, healthcare regulators are becoming more vigilant worldwide. This signifies opportunities in the areas of clinical trial information management and pharmacovigilance for TCS.