The cost advantage is luring many pharma companies to prefer India as the destination for contract research and clinical trials to the developed markets, a joint study by FICCI and E&Y said.
The countries ability to offer end-to-end services in clinical research covering trials, data management, biostatistics and central laboratory services makes it a preferred destinationfor trials and research.
A clinical trial conducted in India costs 50-60 per cent lower than that in the developed markets, the study said.
"As global pharma companies re-visit their strategies by dovetailing speed, cost of drug development and tapping high growth drug markets in their business models, India is emerging as the preferred choice for clinical research services," it said.
The number of companies engaged in drug development has risen the most in India among countries in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
The industry-sponsored, Phase-II,-III clinical trial study sites in India have grown by 116 per cent over the last 15 months with the country moving from rank 18 to 12 across the 60 most active countries.
India participates in 7 per cent of the global Phase III trials and 3.2 per cent in the Phase II trials with industry-sponsored trials, it said.
Source: The Economic Times, 9 Aug 2009
