Bigger role seen for biopharma

India's bio-pharmaceutical companies, backed by a strong IT base and easy access to manpower, are busy positioning themselves to play a bigger role in the evolving global bio-generics market.

The bio-generics market is slowly opening up as the first bio-pharma patents begin to expire. The role of IT in biotechnology is growing with the emergence of bio-informatics which hastens the process and reduces the cost of identification of molecules.

According to Utkarsh Palnitkar, industry leader-health sciences, Ernst & Young India, rapid changes are taking place both in upstream (discovery) and downstream (manufacturing) operations.

This has been recognised by global firms and many outsourcing partnerships are evolving into equity investments. Similarly, Indian companies are expanding and scaling up manufacturing capacity in India and abroad to become global players, he added.

In vaccines, the strategic emphasis in the country has now shifted to developing new vaccine delivery systems instead of just manufacturing vaccines in bulk by leveraging cost competitiveness.

"With these developments, cross border services in molecular diagnostics and genetics are expected to grow, given India's strong value proposition in this space," said Utkarsh Palnitkar. The IT and low-cost skill advantages are enabling India to become a hub for processing and managing clinical data.

While stem cell research has raised some debate in the West, huge investments have been flowing to India in this field. Further, stem cell research in a few Indian institutes and companies has shown tremendous results to creating niche products and solutions.

To maintain these emerging advantages, India will have to keep expanding its highly skilled labor pool. To enable this a comprehensive strategy is needed, he added to boost education in all the bio-sciences with an eye on industry opportunities, Palnitkar added.