The Indian bioinformatics industry is poised to almost double by 2010 -- from the current $32 million (around Rs 120 crore) to $62 million (approximately Rs 240 crore) by 2010, according to a new report by research firm ValueNotes Outsourcing Practice.Bioinformatics means the application of information sciences to biology. It deals with the creation and maintenance of extensive electronic databases on various biological systems. The survey entitled " Bioinformatics outsourcing for life sciences: India opportunity" explains that the need to optimise costs and increase research and development productivity among global life sciences research companies, has lead to the increased adoption of bioinformatics tools and services. The global bioinformatics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent over 2007-2010, which will catalyse the Indian bioinformatics outsourcing market to grow at 25 per cent per annum during 2007-2010. Around 90 per cent revenues of the Indian bioinformatics market is derived from outsourcing activities, states the report."Outsourcing agreements generally include software and database development and support services. Overseas clients usually conceptualise the product and outsource parts of product or database development," explains Arun Jethmalani, managing director, ValueNotes.India's strong base for pharmaceutical research and development and IT services, and well-educated low cost English speaking human capital is driving the off-shoring of bioinformatics services to India, the study states.Such a growth in demand the global market for biotechnology products and need for better utilisation of resources has opened up huge opportunities for the Indian vendors like HCL Technologies, TCS and Infosys, that offer integrated bio technology solutions."The revenue driver for the Indian bioinformatics outsourcing vendors lies in offshoring to countries like the US, Japan and areas of Europe. Most of the Indian life sciences companies are generic and so not provide high end services leaving less room for outsourcing," explains Apurva Chamaria, Category Manager- Life Sciences and Healthcare, HCL Tech.
