Outsourcing to India is set to enter the pharmaceutical research arena. The US-based Creative Choice Group, a $500 million company, will set up the country's first outsourced pharmaceutical research and development facility with an initial investment of $500 million in Gujarat or Maharashtra.
"The pharmaceutical R&D facility will be floated under the brand name of Silicon Valley of Drug Discovery," said Dilip Barot, chief executive officer of CCG, announcing the company's forthcoming project.
Hyderabad-based Albany Molecular, a foreign company, and Ahmedabad-based Dishman, partly foreign-owned, are believed to be already doing pharma research for others.
The CCG facility will be used to develop new drugs for the domestic as well as the international pharmaceutical industry with the intent of cutting costs and time spent on research.
Globally, huge amounts are ploughed into pharma R&D every year, with most of the ventures in the United States. Besides, it takes around seven years for an R&D project to fructify. "Our intention is to reduce the financial burden and bring down the research time by 50 per cent," said Barot.
The project will come up over 100 acre that will house an R&D complex at the centre. The company will acquire high-end research technology worth $150 million in the initial phase.
A part of the facility will be either leased out or sold to pharma companies to avail of high-end technology. The company, however, is yet to acquire land for the project.
"The company is looking for land in Gujarat and Pune, Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra," said Barot.
The company plans to create a world-class research centre that will leverage the lower costs in India. The research work would be carried out using common facilities and thereby reducing costs.
The company will create a pool of scientists working at the R&D facility for developing new drugs that can be researched, steered through rodent as well as animal trials in the country and, if possible, clinical trials as well.
"We will have 350 scientists working at our facility," added Barot. He said the facility would have scientists from multiple disciplines, including veterinary medicine, chemistry, information technology and pharmacology.
The work at the facility will begin next year once the land has been acquired.