The Hindu Business Line : Asian biotech sector making rapid strides

THE biotech industry in Asia may be far behind its American and European counterparts, but biotech companies across Asia-Pacific are enjoying a surge in financing and market valuations, latest trends suggest.

The region had strength in numbers (one third of the world' population lives in China and India), and its research prowess was growing, consultants Ernst & Young stated in their Global Biotechnology Report 2004 released at the BIO annual convention here on Moday.

Developments in the region include India's efforts to become a powerhouse in bio-generics; New Zealand's lifting of moratorium on trials of transgenic crops; and China's approval of the world's first gene therapy.

Some of the major achievements listed in the report includes South Korea's stunning success early this year when its scientists became the first to clone a human embryo to generate stem cells that could be used to treat a wide range of conditions.

In China, clinical trials are underway for the first SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) vaccine. Establishment of biotechnology research parks in Taiwan and emerging investor interest in biotech companies in Japan are the other examples.

In India, the Government has agreed to allow insurance companies to invest in biotechnology venture funds, giving cash-hungry biotech companies a new source of money.

Suggesting that the Asia-Pacific region was on the threshold, the Ernst & Young report said the infrastructure for the Indian biotech industry, like that in China, was established to manufacture marketed therapeutic proteins developed in the West.

"Both India and China are positioned to take advantage of moves by governments in the US and Europe to create a regulatory framework for approving generic versions of successful protein drugs, such as erythropoietin, whose patent exclusivity is expiring," the report said.

While the US and European biotech industries and their regulators debate whether the manufacturing of safe and effective biologics can be copied, companies in India and China have been doing it for years and are ready to enter the Western markets with their likely lower-cost versions of these medicines, the report observed.

Asia presents the portrait of a region whose biotech engine is revving loudly, fuelled by aggressive government funding, that is likely to drive many nations over the next decade to surpass competitors in Europe and challenge the US for global dominance in biotechnology products, the consultants believe.

According to an expert, if reverse brain drain is attracting many Chinese professionals to return home to improve the biotech industry, a similar effort has been going on in India. More than 10 lakh Indian scientists and engineers have returned home in the past 10 years. Indian companies have recently become extremely active in pursuing overseas joint ventures and licensing opportunities in all aspects of biotechnology.