Chinese laboratories out-pip India with the sheer volume of nascent clinical trials and animal experiments they run, but Big Pharma views India as a more mature destination for chemistry and new drug discovery, said a US study released here on Wednesday.
The study sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation interviewed drug makers in China and India on their business models, partnerships with US firms and in-house research and technology.
According to the study, Indian drug companies enjoy an edge over their Chinese peers because they have far more experience in selling generic drugs that meet American FDA standards.
“India is playing a more strategic role in early discovery. It is regarded as a more mature venue for chemistry and drug-discovery activities than China,” noted the study.
“Companies such as Ranbaxy, Aurigene, Advinus, Nicholas Piramal and Jubilant have negotiated long-term deals with western pharmaceutical companies to discover and develop new chemical entities. In a growing number of cases, the Indian companies share the financial risk in discovery as well as the potential financial rewards.”
The report said China was emulating the Indian example. “One Chinese company, Hutchison MediPharma, has formed a similar partnership with Eli Lilly.
Others are likely to follow suit as Chinese contract research organisations gain experience and western companies come to trust in China’s ability to protect intellectual property,” said Vivek Wadhwa, executive in residence at Duke University who led the team conducting the study.
In 2006, 5.5% of all global pharmaceutical patent applications named one inventor or more located in India, and 8.4% named one or more located in China.
“The United States benefits from innovation wherever it occurs,” said Robert Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation.
“Having more countries like India and China develop treatments for diseases is good for the world and will help reduce the overall costs of health care. But the US benefits most when those discoveries are made by companies owned primarily by US citizens,” he added.
On the bleak side, the study pointed out that domestic Indian and Chinese firms rarely “have the capital and the regulatory expertise to develop a drug beyond phase II clinical trials. Their commercial development of new intellectual property therefore necessitates relationships with major multinational corporations.” (Source: DNA Money)
