23 April 2008

India overtakes China as the top Clinical Trials destination

Read on Times of India on April 5th 2008

Interesting figures:
  1. According to the Planning Commission, around 139 new trials were outsourced to India recently compared to 98 in China.
  2. Clinical trials outsourced to India is estimated at around $300 million, having increased by 65% in 2006, it is expected to touch $1.5-2 billion by 2010.
  3. The cost of conducting research in India is 20%-60% lower than in developed countries. Wonder how different it is from China ?
  4. India is short by 30,000 to 50,000 research personnel, including trial investigators, auditors, personnel to serve on ethics committees and data safety management boards etc.,
  5. Currently we need 11,000 annually. By 2010, India will require 50,000 people specializing in clinical trials
Bottom line : Focus on becoming a specialist in this field at the earliest, when the demand is high that automatically translates to higher band and perks.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousApril 27, 2008 at 12:35 AM

    Hi..Good to see Ur blog..

    Adding to your info..please update this ...

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Corporate_Trends/S_Korea_ahead_China_catching_up_with_India/articleshow/2980403.cms

    The fast-growing clinical trial industry in the country is facing stiff competition from Asian countries like China and South Korea. While South Korea has already surged ahead of India, China is also fast catching up.

    According to the USFDA registry of ‘industry-sponsored active clinical trials’, South Korea is conducting 282 trials and the number is growing almost 80%. Compared to this, Indian companies are carrying out 236 studies and growing at 61%. China is not far behind with 150 studies and growing at 64%, says Pfizer director (medical & regulatory affairs) Dr Chandrashekhar Potkar.

    Currently, India’s clinical trial industry is estimated to be around $300 million and projected to touch $2 billion by 2010. However, this is still a small pie of the global outsourcing market estimated to be around $30 billion.

    “Amongst Asian countries, India had a headstart having initiated global clinical research more than a decade ago. Countries like China, Korea and Taiwan joined the bandwagon more recently but surging ahead rapidly. These countries should catch up and overtake India in the volume of work in no time, ” Mr Potkar added.

    Global companies say that despite the clear advantages of language proficiency, skilled manpower and ethnic diversity, India’s lack of overall capacity and inability to enforce intellectual property rights (IPR) may see the country lose the upper hand.

    However, industry sources representing Indian drugmakers, pointed out that global drugmakers will continue to flock to India.

    “When the Satwant Committee recommendations had put several safeguards on data exclusivity, global companies threatened that they would not conduct trials or invest in India. But, on the contrary, discovery companies continue to outsource studies to India. Global companies also prefer to go to countries where the regulatory regime is relaxed and therefore lobbying for minimal government interference in India.”

    Sur-s

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