India R&D Hub For Johnson & Johnson
posted in Outsourcing News and Top Outsourcing deals, Outsourcing to India |Source: www.indiaabroad.com
India has moved up the off-shoring / outsourcing ladder, more than evident from the fact that most of the MNCs are getting their R&D done in the sub-continent. And now, it is Johnson & Johnson (J&J), just the world’s largest manufacturer of healthcare products that is set on India becoming a global hub for its research and development, in a move to ramp up its pharmaceutical business in the country.
Investing $17.5 million in its analytical and pharmaceutical development centre in Mumbai, the centre will be responsible for conducting early-stage drug development, and in just a few months, J&J’s professional headcount can be expected to rise from 65 to 150.
“We will develop the centre to make India an important hub of our drug research and development. We are in discussions with Indian companies and R&D institutes for drug research and clinical development of drug targets,” says Paul Stoffels, Chairman, Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson.
Conducting 15-clinical trials in India, Stoffels confirms that number is soon to be doubled, as his company makes clinical development of drugs a focus area for it’s growth in India.
J&J’s decision comes as yet another endorsement of India’s emergence as a critical R&D centre for pharma. It was only last year, Novartis another big league drugs major announced a Rs. 500-crore (Rs. 5-billion) investment in a centre in Hyderabad that will employ a 5,000-strong staff of scientists.
And, only recently, Pliva inaugurated its drug R&D centre in Goa, while in March, Astra Zeneca opened a $15-million process and development laboratory in Bangalore for focusing on new chemical entity research.
A month ago, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene International - a Biocon’s subsidiary, teamed up to establish a facility in Bangalore, employing 400-scientists to work on early-stage drug development. And, just a few weeks ago, GlaxoSmithKline and Tata Consultancy Services announced the establishment of a global drug development support centre in Mumbai.
It may not be common knowledge, but if, the McKinsey report is to be believed, global clinical trial outsourcing to India in the pharmaceutical industry is estimated to be worth Rs. 5,000-crore (Rs. 50-billion) by year 2010.
Currently, Ajit Shetty, President, Global Chemical and Pharmaceutical Operations avers, J&J pharma products are marketed in India through its arm Janssen-Cilag, which manages to sell only a few of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, not even counted amongst the top-30 pharma firms in India. That could all change, as J&J ramps up its pharma operations in India, as it aims to become a leading player amongst the big league, with an organic growth strategy that involves the launch of almost all its patented drugs.
