The Hindu Business Line : `India must focus on affordable drug development'

THE Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon Industries, Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, has said that India has to look at drug development as an opportunity and go after it with a clearly thought-out strategy.

She was speaking at the CXO conclave on `Aiming for the bigger share of pharma and biotech market' at Manipal in Udupi district on Saturday.

Ms Shaw said that drug development, in terms of affordability, is going to be the single-minded focus for the drug industry worldwide. "Everyone is going to look at the strategy of how one can make drug development more affordable. How can the cost of drug development be brought down," she said.

Ms Shaw said that India has a huge opportunity to differentiate from many other countries in terms of the drug development process. "This is largely because of the advantage we have with respect to a large patient population and disease database. It is the speed of enrolment that counts and not really cost," she said.

The hindrance for the country is that Indians have built all their efforts and initiatives in silos. The time has come for connecting with each other and see how India can maximise its resources, she said.

Ms Shaw said that designing of protocol is important in clinical trials. Wrongly designed protocol has delayed the marketing of some products. Protocol designing can also be developed as an expertise.

Stating the need to create intellectual property (IP), she said that without IP, it is difficult to create a globally respectable industry. A gap analysis should be done to know where the country stands and what it wants to achieve in the pharma and biotechnology sectors, she added.

The other speakers at the CXO Conclave, organised by Manipal AcuNova, opined that the country — which has a good base in basic science research — could reach the commanding position in these sectors. To achieve this, the industry should work in a collaborative manner.

Mr Harpal Singh, Chairman of Fortis Healthcare, said that Indian creativity and capabilities are getting recognised worldwide. Indians can achieve better results with little resources.

To be recognised in the world market, people should give up the general tendency of finding shortcuts for success. To become a global player, the industry should adhere to the necessary guidelines. India will be held culpable, if it doesn't adhere to these guidelines.

To become a global leader, pharma and biotechnology sectors in the country should work in a collaborative manner, he added.

Dr Vijayaraghavan, Director of National Centre for Biological Sciences, said that institutions and universities could be big players in these sectors. "You can be small and hit the market in a big way," he said.

Though the country has 10 to 15 institutions that are strong in research, but they performed poorly while communicating with others. A good communication among the industry and institutions is essential for the growth of these sectors, he said.

India's capability in basic science research should be explored to become a global player, Dr Vijayaraghavan said.

Mr D.A. Prasanna, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Manipal AcuNova, hoped that the country could become a new superpower in pharma and biotechnology sectors by 2010.

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