Biotech boom puts india on verge of global market

A new study has shown that India’s health biotech firms are gaining global influence, with an increased ability not only to produce cheap drugs and vaccines domestically but also to move into the global market.

India has the capability to manufacture cheap generic versions of western drugs

The study of 21 leading biotech firms in India published in Nature Biotechnology shows they can address local needs and produce cheap generic alternatives to many drugs manufactured by Western companies.

“Most people think only of information technologies as the driver behind India’s economic emergence but a lot of innovative research is underway in biotech and other life sciences as well,” said co-author Abdallah Daar.

The impact on drugs prices is already being felt in India. The 1997 launch of a domestically-produced hepatitis B vaccine, Shanvac-B, developed by Shantha Biotechnics of Hyderabad, drove prices down from about US$15 to roughly US$0.50, say the researchers.

The researchers also found that Indian firms are expanding internationally. Co-author Sarah Frew cited the example of Indian firm Biocon’s purchase of the small US-based biotechnology company Nobex for US$5 million in 2006.
“An Indian company acquiring a US company is not what most people picture when they consider the Indian biotech industry,” said Frew.

Despite acknowledging the growth made by the Indian biotech base, the study authors also points out that they require financial and political support before they will commit to doing so. Indeed, Indian activists say that the threat of these companies being swallowed by bigger Western companies will always remain.