India is fast emerging as a strong base for clinical trials in recent times. The reason? For companies eager to launch their products, the country offers a large patient pool, which can be used to recruit drug-testers more quickly than it is possible to recruit patients in the west.
A new report which looks at the key competitive advantages and disadvantages India has when it comes to conducting clinical trials, concludes the country is rapidly growing as a centre for conducting clinical trials for many international companies. In fact, it goes on to predict that by 2011, pharma companies will be conducting more than 15% of the total global clinical trials in India.
The Indian clinical trials market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of nearly 36% between 2006 and 2011 to register revenues worth US$ 546 Million in future, says the study. It points out that benefits of conducting clinical trials in India include strong Government support, huge patient base, low costs and that clinical trials are completed on time in the country. That explains why all major pharmaceutical companies and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) have already begun conducting their clinical trials in India, they say.
The study finds that though China has some benefits over India in terms of low cost and better access to research-related material, a big drawback for China which works in India’s favour is that the Chinese pharmaceutical industry is based on generics and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). India, on the other hand, has flourishing pharmaceutical companies formulating their own small and large molecule therapies, it says.
Analysts caution, however that India still has to overcome some obstacles before it achieves its goal of becoming a global hub. For instance, progress needs to be made to meet challenges like unethical trials, delay in trial approval, inappropriate protection of clinical data, and lack of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certified sites and investigators, they say.
Further reading: Booming Clinical Trials Market in India.
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July 4th, 2008 at 8:33 am
Hi,
Great article! Clinical Research has become extremely important today. As Clinical research is a branch of medical science that determines the safety and effectiveness of medications, devices and treatment regimens intended for human use, it is concerned with treatment. The result of clinical research studies are essential for gaining approval for marketing new medications and devices or new inventions from regulatory agencies throughout the world. This further highlights its importance.
In India, there are very few institutes like ICRI which provide quality education in this field.