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Pharmaceutical Drug research and Biotech development getting hot in India for US firms
A US biotechnology team on Friday said it was excited about the wide range of opportunities in India's nascent biotechnology industry, especially in the field of drug development.
"We recognise that given rising life expectancies and increased incidence of lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, India has a large potential for pharmaceutical products," said head of the US Executive Life Sciences Mission C Nigel Thompson.
The mission, floated by the US-India Business Council (USIBC), is currently in India to identify specific sectors in biotechnology for cooperation between the two countries.
"We will come back in April or May, but we are working on the entire area (of biotechnology) to improve the overall investment climate in India," Thompson told reporters on the sidelines of the Biotech India exhibition.
An Ernst and Young study last year had identified India as an emerging hub for collaborative and outsourced research and development in the area of drug development, biotechnology and chemicals.
"Our priority for this mission is to continue to build private sector and academic connections that will lead to a dramatic increase in US-India life sciences collaboration in 2005-06," Thompson said.
"We view the Indian life sciences sector not only as a market but also as a potential supplier and partner." According to an estimate, the Indian biotechnology industry is set for explosive growth with the potential to generate $5 billion in revenues and create over one million jobs in the next five years.
Thompson welcomed the ordinance on product patents introduced last month by the Indian government, saying it would significantly improve the intellectual property rights regime. But USIBC president Ron Somers said he felt that despite recent improvements, the US believed India's intellectual property regime was still the single biggest barrier to increased American investment in this area.
"We will continue to advocate for improvements in intellectual property protection on behalf of our entire membership," Somers said. New Delhi issued an ordinance on January 1 that allowed full introduction of product patents, doing away with exclusive marketing rights -- a transitional arrangement provided to drug companies until a full product patent regime was introduced.
The USIBC is a self-funding membership association of over 100 American companies with trade and investment interests in India.
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