The Hindu Business Line : Slowdown may bring more private equity players into healthcare

Hyderabad, Sept. 26 The life sciences and healthcare sector may benefit from the global economic slowdown as global investors, especially private equity players (PEs), are expected to move to this sector from hitherto popular sectors ones like IT and ITeS.

This was the view expressed by Mr Jasmin Patel, Managing Director, Fidelity International in a presentation at healthcare and pharma conclave organised by the Indian School of Business (ISB) here on Friday.

The PE investment in the life sciences and healthcare sector till August this year was $9.4 billion, he said adding, “Some predict a 50 per cent slowdown in PE investment in India by 2010, due to the impact of global economy,” he said. The hospitals in tier II, III cities, super-specialty hospitals and medical equipment businesses provide lot of investment opportunities, he added.

Dr Pratap C. Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said Rs 80,000 crore investment was required every year to create the necessary hospital bed capacity in the country.

“There is a gap in the demand and supply of human resources which needs to be addressed immediately. For instance, we have only 1.6 million doctors while we need over seven lakh doctors,” he said.

The regulations and curricula set by Medical Council of India should be changed to allow private players into higher medical education, he suggested. Dr Mohan Chellapa, President of Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medical International, US said the demand for healthcare services is rapidly growing in China and India. “There has been a shift in the disease pattern from infectious diseases to degenerative diseases in the developing markets,” he said.

More Stories on : Venture Capital | Medical Institutions & Hospitals

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page