The Hindu Business Line : ClinInvent to start trials for respiratory drug

IT may take time to convince domestic pharma companies that Contract Research Organisations (CRO) are not commodity suppliers. But ClinInvent Research Pvt Ltd, a CRO with NewYork-based The Chatterjee Group (TCG), is working on it.

The fledgling CRO has commenced phase III clinical trials on a respiratory product for an Indian company, but for international submission. The company is in the process of recruiting about 300 persons for the trial, said Dr Arun Bhatt, President of ClinInvent.

During Phase III trials, a drug is tested on patients for safety, efficacy and adverse reactions. The company intends to focus its efforts on segments such as cancer, nephrology and psychiatry, he said.

ClinInvent is in the process of conducting Phase III trials on an ophthalmology product for a subsidiary of a multinational company. Similar trials are to commence on a cardiology product, an oncology drug and an anti-fungal product, he said.

Regulatory approvals have been received for a nephrology product on which trials would start, he said. It has also completed trials in the tropical diseases segment, for a new diagnostic test for malaria, he added.

He admitted that the clinical trials scene in India was hotting up, with global companies looking at the region because of the cost advantage. And the companies include heavyweights in the industry, such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Wyeth.

On the domestic front, large Indian companies are investing in getting research done in compliance with Good Clinical Practices. But smaller companies are still to break out of the old mindset, he said.

The company has a tie-up with MDS Pharma and is its preferred CRO for India, he said. ClinInvent is part of TCG Lifesciences and was set up in August 2003. The company expects to grow by 100 per cent this year.

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