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India perfect for clinical trials: UNCTAD
By agencies
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Monday, 03 October 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: The latest world investment report by UNCTAD has rated India as an attractive destination for pharma and clinical research for companies looking at faster and efficient ways to test drugs.
The report said that drug firms could reduce costs 20-30 percent by moving R&D activities to India while they save from hiring clinical researchers, nurses and IT staff at less than a third of the wages in the West.
The findings also said India has really 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 adding "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 however said despite the Government setting new guidelines on good clinical practices, low literacy rate is a major factor when it comes to taking patients consent, as they might not adequately understand the true risks involved.
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 organizations based in India had has increased four-fold between 2001 and 2003.
In another report, international consulting agency, Frost and Sullivan says India is a perfect pharma partner. It said India offered a competitive advantage in five key metrics for the pharma industry- capital, efficiency, process engineering, high-quality, qualified chemists and low labor costs.