Industry & Economy
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Pharmaceuticals
`India ideal for clinical trials'
Our Bureau
New Delhi
,
Sept. 30
INDIA is an attractive destination for clinical research for pharmaceutical companies seeking faster and more efficient ways to test drugs, said the latest World Investment Report released by Unctad.
The report has estimated that firms can reduce costs 20-30 per cent by moving R&D activities to India. Savings come from hiring clinical researchers, nurses and IT staff at less than a third of the wages in the West, in addition to cost differences associated with patients, it said.
According to the findings, India is well endowed with skilled R&D personnel. "It also has a relative abundance of people with diseases that exist in developed countries (including up to 30 million people with heart disease and 25 million with type II diabetes and 10 million with psychiatric disorders)," it said.
This includes a large pool of what are called "treatment naïve" patients who have not yet been exposed to other drugs in the market. "In addition, Indian recruits are more likely to comply fully with the trial process, unlike in developed countries where a significant proportion of subjects drop out in order to seek second opinion," it added.
However, even though the Government has set new guidelines on good clinical practices, in line with international norms, low literacy rate is a worrying factor. While patients' consent is mandatory, they might not adequately understand the true risks involved.
Also, the factors holding back clinical research in India include relatively slow approval processes and the reverence for animals, which makes it difficult to use certain animals like monkeys, the report said.
Meanwhile, the study indicated that the number of clinical research organisations based in India had has increased four-fold between 2001 and 2003.
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