Ernst & Young Showcases India, China's Strengths at New Jersey

Posted AtPharmaBiz

Ernst & Young, one of the leading global professional services firms, which also has a strong presence in the health sciences sector in India, recently organised a conference -'Executive Insights', at Short Hills, New Jersey, US. The objective of the conference was to highlight the strengths of India and China in the pharmaceutical industry and the benefits both the countries offer collectively to the rest of the world.

"It is for the first time that one has a forum to discuss jointly, the benefits of partnering with India and China in the pharmaceutical space. While many compare one with the other, this forum recognises the unique advantages each country offers and explores the ways and means of exploiting the same" said, Utkarsh Palnitkar, E&Ys' national leader for health sciences.

The sessions were in the form of workshops and panel discussions and brought together an array of panelists with many years of experience in both geographies.

From an India perspective there were two focused sessions, one on partnering and the other on clinical trials. The key note speaker for the pharmaceutical insight session was Dr. Amartya Sen (professor at the Harvard University and Nobel Prize winner). The panelists included Dr Josef Rickenbach (founder and chairman of Parexel) Sanjiv Kaul, (managing director of Chrys Capital), Dr. Ferzaan Engineer (CEO of Quintiles India) and Dr. Chandrashekhar Potkar (director, Pfizer India).

E&Ys' report 'Unveiling India's Pharmaceutical Future', points out that post 2005, the environment in India has improved, with Indian companies evolving into a new breed of global manufacturers that are both, an increasing competitive threat and potential collaborators for western pharmaceutical companies. The report touches upon aspects such as legislative reforms, contract manufacturing and clinical trial capabilities, growing middle class and prospects for health insurance, spending on healthcare, affordability of drugs and intellectual property.

E&Y's report 'China and India-Risks and Returns in Asia's Blockbuster Pharmaceutical Markets', said that China and India share the potential to assume prominent positions in the modern global pharmaceutical industry. In the long-term these markets could exceed the return currently derived from Western markets. It covers aspects such as scaling-up for global competition, middle class markets, traditional medicine, shared services, operational risk, intellectual property rights, human capital, regulations, incentives and disincentives.

E&Y has also come out with a survey on the clinical trials scenario and opportunities in India. The report is titled 'An analytical survey on the clinical trials activities of multinational pharmaceutical companies in India' and its results are based on the answers from a representative sample set. E&Y India conducted a nationwide survey of senior executives of the MNC pharmaceuticals in India to analyse their clinical research activity in India. It is observed that off-shoring clinical development to India has become a strategic imperative for most global pharmaceutical companies.

Some of the highlights from the report are as follows:

Of the sample set surveyed, 59% of the respondents have indicated that their company is conducting clinical trials in India. A majority of the companies surveyed are presently undertaking Phase III trials and pivotal studies followed by Phase II trials.

Oncology has by far been the largest therapeutic segment wherein trials have been conducted. Based on the survey, the number of potential clinical trial subjects has been identified as the most compelling driver for the MNC pharmaceutical companies.

November 14, 2005