The Hindu Business Line : Towards good health

Worldwide, pharmaceuticals, along with agriculture, are major areas that are looking at biotechnology. Biodrugs or recombinant DNA therapeutics are considered safer and more specific than the conventional chemical drugs.

The global biopharmaceuticals market is estimated at over Rs 33,000 crore and said to be growing at the rate of 15 per cent annually.

There are few global pharma companies that are not investing their millions in the biotech route to new drugs. These drugs will target virtually all diseases ranging from diabetes, HIV/AIDS, cancer to tuberculosis.

For TB alone there are companies like AstraZeneca, Lupin Labs, GlaxoSmithKline, Pasteur Institute, WHO, Novartis, Pharmacia and others who are actively developing new drugs. The Rockefeller Foundation supported Global Alliance for TB Drug Development has made a bridge commitment of $ 45 million for finding just one new drug by the end of this decade.

India figures prominently on the pharma and food biotech areas as a market, as a manufacturing base as well as an R&D source.

In the coming years, as several common drugs will go off patent, pharma companies in India and elsewhere will try to get into manufacturing them. Industry forecasts say these bio-generic drugs will be replacing 70 per cent of the conventional therapies by 2025. And the buzz words will be bio-processing and bio-manufacturing.

Experts also forecast strategic synergies between big pharma companies and small biotech startups, while small Indian companies will get roped into contract research and manufacturing, including herbal drugs.

According to Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CEO of Biocon India and Chairperson of the Karnataka Vision Group on Biotechnology, India's big chance also lies in bio-generic drugs.

Already, over 350 biotech drug products are in the pipeline worldwide and the Indian BT segment, she says, would soon have to be looking at getting into manufacturing these.

According to a forecast by the TIFAC (Technology Information, Forecasting & Assessment Council) under the Department of Science & Technology, the market for recombinant medicine in India will jump from Rs 535 crore to Rs 958 crore by 2005.

Currently, the hepatitis B vaccine is being made by four companies in India. Almost a dozen domestic pharma companies have active biotech plans. TIFAC also estimates that over the next five years, biodrugs will see investments of the order of Rs 500 crore in India, mainly led by Cadila, Bharat Biotech, Shantha Biotechnics, Torrent, Wockhardt and a host of others.

Global majors are also prowling around leading Indian pharma companies for tie-ups or to buy their drug discoveries. Novartis and diabetes drug major Novo Nordisk have separately tied up with Dr Reddy's Labs for two of its molecules.

Convinced of the future Indian role in biopharmaceuticals, PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America), which represents US drug and biotech companies, has set up a task force on South Asia.

Last year, the total R&D spend of PhRMA members increased to a record $ 30 billion and several of them are looking at partnerships and presence in India, among them Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Novartis.

During a recent visit to Bangalore Ms Susan Kling Finston, Assistant VP, PhRMA, said several US companies are eager to work with Indian scientists.

Meanwhile, biotech engineering equipment majors are also scenting a good harvest: since the late 1990s, revenues have multiplied for the euro 440 million Sartorius, for example.

Even Nasdaq is exploiting biotechnology by setting up a matchmaking network for research funds.

At the same time, industry and the government also have to tread cautiously while trying to fill the global capacity. Authorities, for one, will have their hands full as they deal with emerging legal changes and regulatory issues such as approvals.

The Patents Act is a bone of contention for pharma MNCs, activists and the Centre. In the view of Ms Kling Finston, for one, lack of a strong product patent regime has been keeping the US companies away from investing in Indian biotechnology R&D.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Crisis management Web site launched

IIT Kharagpur research unit revenue up at Rs 30 crore

Analysts see long-term risks in rollback move

Cement sector divided on tackling differential ST

Six-month extension for Loss of Ecology Authority

Bollaram polluting units agree to clean up lakes

Spl packages from Royal

APHB developing township with Singapore firm

Housing Board clarification

Oil marketing cos to have pricing freedom

Pharma cos to press for exclusive park