Genpact bags Novartis' BPO contract

In a significant business process outsourcing (BPO) deal in the pharmaceutical sector, Genpact has bagged a major contract from the Switzerland-based Novartis.

Under the contract, the Indian company will support Novartis' backoffice operations in seven countries across the globe.

According to sources, Novartis has signed a contract to outsource accounting and purchasing activities to Genpact and manage them as a global shared service.

The project involves moving of backoffice functions from around seven countries to India.

However, the financial terms of the deal could not be ascertained.

When contacted, Genpact officials declined to comment.

This is one of the major backoffice outsourcing contracts from global pharmaceutical companies to India and an indication that processes in the medical industry are being increasingly moved over to low-cost countries such as India.

In November 2006, TCS had bagged a BPO contract from US pharma company Eli Lilly to provide drug development services, including clinical trial data management, statistical analysis and medical writing.

Even though the financial details were not disclosed during the time, industry sources had pegged the deal at $30-35 million.

Earlier, in December 2005, the Tata company had signed an agreement with Danish pharma major Novo Nordisk to provide diabetic care and setting up of an offshore clinical operations service. The deal size was not announced.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis group companies operate in over 140 countries around the world. A Fortune 500 company, Novartis also has operations in India. The company, through its subsidiary Novartis India, has presence in therapeutic, generics and over-the-counter products.

Apart from Genpact, Tata Consultancy Services is the only company to bag outsourcing contracts from global pharmaceutical majors.