The Hindu Business Line : ClinTec readying clinical research training plan

Bangalore, Jan. 22 ClinTec International, the contract research organisation (CRO) which has been scaling up its presence in the country, is adding a new dimension to its operations. Training people to be clinical research professionals is the next big plan, according to Dr Rabinder Buttar, ClinTec’s Founder & President.

The UK-based CRO plans to launch in India courses that lead to a full-fledged degree in clinical research from premier UK universities. The courses will be offered as classroom-based and online programmes in a month or two, Dr Buttar, based in Glasgow, told Business Line. Her company “would provide substantial finances” to the educational initiative.

Training, she said, was part of a bigger global strategy, for which ClinTec had moved its Director of Clinical Research to a new position as Director of Global Training and Development. The company was doing due diligence on standards, finalising tie-ups and course delivery with 2-3 Indian universities.

The CRO’s training pitch comes at a time when clinical research bodies are trying to balance an increased inflow of contracts from global drug majors with a high rate of attrition of their employees. The CR business is put at Rs 8,000 crore by 2010; by then, McKinsey estimates that the country would need 20,000-50,000 CR professionals.

“This year, training and development is very high on ClinTec agenda,” Dr Buttar, who is on the board of the UK-based Institute of Clinical Research, said. There have been requests and enquiries about training from India and other countries.

“There is a big need to train [clinical] personnel in India. Now every global CRO is here besides many local ones.” Five years ago, her company set up shop in Bangalore as only the second multinational CRO. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to fill the gap.”

A dedicated team was fine-tuning the global strategies. ClinTec would package the best-practice clinical standards of the UK and Germany into a formal qualification recognised by a UK body, said Mr Bobby Bal, Senior Director for Corporate Development.

“We would like to bring all our emerging markets up to the Western standards. We see a huge potential in India for training,” he said.

Dr Buttar said there was an increased confidence in her company’s Indian outfit and its head of operations was recently promoted as Director-Operations.

After shifting clinical operations to Munich in October 2007, it recently moved its corporate base from Windsor to Glasgow, where, it has said it would create 234 jobs in three years. The Scottish Government recently granted £1.345 million (around Rs 10 crore) to support the activity.

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