The Hindu Business Line : ‘50,000 clinical staff needed in next 2 years’

Bangalore, Dec. 17 The country will be in need of 50,000 clinical research professionals in just two years as the global pharma industry rushes to test and launch its drugs in emerging markets.

The trials are annually growing at 50 per cent in India compared to 10 per cent in the West, said Mr Mohan Bhandari, Chairman & Managing Director of Bilcare, citing a recent McKinsey report.

His Pune-based pharma packaging company on Monday opened its Bangalore training centre for clinical professionals (CPs) — its second in the country after Pune.

Growing demand

Mr Bhandari said: “Clinical research activity has seen an exponential rise in the last few years.

“Industry sources suggest that by 2010 the total (clinical trials) market could touch $2 billion (around Rs 8,000 crore) and the industry would require 20,000 to 50,000 trained personnel.

Bilcare intends to bridge this gap and produce around 5,000 world-class clinical research professionals by 2010.”

training centres

Bilcare itself will now dig deeper into the clinical research education segment by setting up 25 training centres across Asia including Mumbai, and Hyderabad, apart from a new Singapore chapter.

These centres would bring out 5,000 clinical professionals in the next two years, Mr Bhandari said at the opening of the Bangalore centre.

Mr Bhandari said the Bangalore centre would train 200 students each year and the Pune centre, already two batches old, would bring out 100 students, besides taking in professionals already working in clinical research.

The course will cost Rs 3 lakh.

PG diploma

The Rs 400-crore company’s arm, Bilcare Research Academy, has tied up with the Association of Clinical research Professionals (ACRP), a 21,000-strong US-based global body, to offer a one-year post-graduate diploma in clinical trial management, said to be Asia’s first ACRP-accredited course.

The Bilcare centre functions at the Bangalore Diabetes Hospital premises.

Bilcare counts Pfizer, Wyeth, and Ranbaxy among its 500 global clients.

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