| "Our drug development activities in future will include drugs specific to regional geographies such as India, China and South Korea in Asia," said Michael Berelowitz, senior vice-president and global medical head of Pfizer. |
| He said Pfizer would come up with its India-specific plans within a few months. |
| "Adequate funds will be allocated depending on the need," added Berelowitz, now in Mumbai to assess India's potential for drug discovery programmes and clinical trials. |
| Pfizer is also open to associating or collaborating with Indian companies and research outfits for drug development, according to Jorge Punte, vice-president, medical and regulatory affairs for Asia and Japan. |
| It may be noted that Pfizer, faced with imminent generic competition for its $12 billion per annum cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor and dwindling drugs in the pipeline, is in the process of trimming its workforce, manufacturing and research facilities, besides increased outsourcing activities to Asian countries where costs are lower. |
| "Many of the drugs in our pipeline for diabetes, asthma and cancer are relevant for the Indian population. We will make necessary changes in drug composition to suit region-specific needs," elaborated Berelowitz. |
| "Currently, Pfizer conducts about 45 global clinical trials in India and will soon conduct more trials here, including India-specific trials." |
| He said the future drug development programmes would focus on oncology, neuroscience, inflammation, pain and diabetes. |
| One out of five programmes would be based on biotech drugs, vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. |
| Pfizer's biotech and bio-innovation centre in San Francisco will spearhead the biotech drug development projects. |
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