Chinese, Bangla pharma firms in India talent hunt

NDTV PROFIT EXCLUSIVE

Chinese and Bangladeshi pharma companies, dogged worldwide by the shadow of dodgy quality, are trying to find a quick fix in India.

Representatives of companies like Desano Pharma of China and Beximco of Bangladesh, are touring India, making job offers and poaching quality control executives of Indian pharmas.

With Indian quality control professionals on board, they believe their products will help them penetrate regulated markets like the US, EU and the UK more effectively.

In the past, Chinese and Bangladeshi pharmas have found it difficult to enter these markets because their quality was judged suspect.

But their poaching is creating problems for Indian drugmakers, who suddenly find the cost of retaining quality control professionals going up.

"These Chinese companies will not be able to do much by acquiring professionals. That's not to say they'll never come up, but they have a long way to go," D B Gupta, chairman, Lupin told NDTV Profit.

Gupta added that China's quality problem was systemic: "Their plants are old and outdated so though they have a low cost of manufacturing, their manpower cost is increasing."

The low-cost skilled personnel story of India is suddenly a myth, as demand soars for everyone including scientists to quality control professionals.