Thursday, July 20, 2006
Hyderabad Business News July 21st,2006
iGate Clinical Research will double headcount
Hyderabad, July 20: Encouraged by the implementation of the product patent law in India and a growing market, iGate Clinical Research International, a contract research organisation, will expand its headcount in the country, Dr Vasudev Ginde, president and managing director of the company, said.
“We are in the process of expanding our laboratory in Mumbai and will be doubling the number of research scientists to 120 by the end of 2006,” Dr Ginde, who founded the company in 1997, which was acquired by iGate Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed firm, in October 2003, said. Dr Ginde said iGate Clinical Research was working on several therapeutic areas, including oncology, CNS and respiratory diseases, for large pharma companies like Pfizer and Roche.
“Clinical research is a segment that will see substantial growth because India now has a law which recognises product patents, unlike earlier when process patents were only recognised. Pharma and biotechnology companies abroad are now comfortable with the idea of outsourcing their clinical research work from phase-1 to phase-4 to Indian clinical research firms,” he said.
The company has, so far, completed over 60 clinical trials, he said, adding that most of the work is done for foreign companies. “In India, clinical research is still in a nascent stage. The challenge to the growth of the clinical research segment, which is projected to grow to $1 billion by 2010, from the current level of about $120 million now, is the paucity of trained manpower in the country,” he said.
Hyderabad, July 20: Encouraged by the implementation of the product patent law in India and a growing market, iGate Clinical Research International, a contract research organisation, will expand its headcount in the country, Dr Vasudev Ginde, president and managing director of the company, said.
“We are in the process of expanding our laboratory in Mumbai and will be doubling the number of research scientists to 120 by the end of 2006,” Dr Ginde, who founded the company in 1997, which was acquired by iGate Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed firm, in October 2003, said. Dr Ginde said iGate Clinical Research was working on several therapeutic areas, including oncology, CNS and respiratory diseases, for large pharma companies like Pfizer and Roche.
“Clinical research is a segment that will see substantial growth because India now has a law which recognises product patents, unlike earlier when process patents were only recognised. Pharma and biotechnology companies abroad are now comfortable with the idea of outsourcing their clinical research work from phase-1 to phase-4 to Indian clinical research firms,” he said.
The company has, so far, completed over 60 clinical trials, he said, adding that most of the work is done for foreign companies. “In India, clinical research is still in a nascent stage. The challenge to the growth of the clinical research segment, which is projected to grow to $1 billion by 2010, from the current level of about $120 million now, is the paucity of trained manpower in the country,” he said.
