India is quietly assuming a new and expanded role in the discovery and development of medicines for patients in the United States and other western countries, according to an article scheduled for the May 21 issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS? weekly newsmagazine.
In the article, Jean-Fran?ois Tremblay, of C&EN?s Asia-Pacific Bureau, explains that big western pharmaceutical companies long have turned to India?s numerous contract research firms to work on specific, well-defined projects. “But for the past two years, the country?s research service providers have begun to undertake far more significant drug discovery work for foreign clients,” the article notes.
Driving the new wave of pharma outsourcing in part is India?s huge pool of English-speaking scientists, particularly synthetic organic chemists, many of whom are highly motivated and willing to work for a fraction of the salary of similarly-trained sciences in the U. S., Europe, or Japan, the article states. India?s top research providers also are creating a climate of confidentiality that gives western drug makers assurance about protection of their trade secrets, it adds. Tremblay includes specific examples of western drug makers that are expanding use of that scientific manpower by forming external alliances in India to increase R&D productivity.