Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Apr 13, 2004 |
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Info-Tech
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Software InfoPro proposes clinical solutions for Indian market Madhumathi D.S.
Bangalore , April 12 INFOPRO Solutions, which provides clinical trial software solutions to pharma companies like Pfizer and Abbott, is still some time away from clinching Indian customers. But it is waiting, watching how the pharma research scene unfolds in the country and in the meanwhile, mulling an `India flavour', according to Mr Douglas Meyer, Vice-President, Pharmaceutical Science. Nine years ago, the California-based company made Bangalore its global development hub. It now finds that the Indian pharmaceutical and biotechnology market is growing but is yet to mature in drug R&D and IPR-related issues. "We are looking at perhaps a different pricing and product variation for Indian models. We are also considering developing a different flavour for the Indian market," Mr Meyer, who was here for the inauguration of a new campus, told Business Line. It is difficult to say how long this may take, he added. InfoPro has developed products such as the Clinicopia suite of drugs targeted at reducing time and cost in clinical trial activities of the drug development process. Clinicopia, Mr Meyer said, is fast becoming the global standard in integrated clinical trials supplies management. "Its scope has now expanded to clinical materials management and production planning." Pfizer, Abbott Labs, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Chiron and P&G are among its clients. All the products are developed out of Bangalore. "Sooner or later, Indian pharma companies will be at a stage where they will need effective clinical software solutions like their Western counterparts," said Mr Kunal Khattar, Associate Director, Marketing & Corporate Strategy. Indian companies are confident of doing primary drug research, clinical trials and contract manufacturers are coming to India. "But a lot depends on the intellectual property policies." These issues are crucial to pharma research, where some $50 billion a year could be at stake for companies. Globally, InfoPro hopes to double the number of customers. It has started focusing on improving technical support as well as product development. The amount of research money being spent and the number of generics companies going in for drug trials prior to regulatory approvals are encouraging signs. "We have also started to hear from larger generics companies," Mr Meyer said.
"For now, Indian needs are being supported indirectly as virtually every client of ours has an India office." The Bangalore centre with a team of 100 employees focuses on testing and validation and is located on a 2-acre campus at the Export Promotion Industrial Park at nearby Whitefield.
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