Indian biotech companies can work on areas such as diagnostic tests. These tests can help control disease transmission and aid development of new drugs and vaccines. US, India and China can together develop technology, says professor William J Rutter, chairman Emeritus of Chiron Corporation and president, Synergenics, USA.
Corporates can focus on developing therapeutics and preventive medicine. Preventive medicine is more effective than treatment, he said. The changed pharma industry is indicative of intensive focus on drug efficacy and price, consolidation into powerful international organizations for drug development, marketing and sales,
Other changes are more R&D focuses on development of (small molecule) blockbuster drugs, dependency on academic institutions and small companies for research and technology development, willingness of corporates to pay high price for products with low risk.
With regard to the scenario of development of 'specialty' science or technology industry, professor says that in the case of well established or matured companies, it is difficult to incorporate new and rapidly developing technologies; multiple approaches leading to 'optimal solutions' are better developed in a competitive environment; smaller and focused organizations can be more creative and intensely productive.
There can be better industry interface with academic institutions, significant capital resources required for multidisciplinary research are available from ventures, industry funds and government subsidies.
Today, the industry is characterized by evolving research, biotech and pharma companies; interactive economic, financial and marketing institutions worldwide; escalating pressure to control health care (drugs) costs; cost effectiveness is becoming a key driver. Total investment by US government in biotech research is 3 per cent of GNP.
Chiron is actively working on hepatitis C vaccine, and has completed clinical trials in chimpanzees and is likely to begin clinical trials in human.
The professor told Pharmabiz.com that India has good scope for being a destination for clinical research, but will have to face tough competition from countries such as China, Thailand and South Africa.
Prof. Rutter has made remarkable achievements in his 50 years of scientific career, and his lab was the first to clone and express the human insulin gene and study its regulation, an achievement, which has remained as the corner stone of diabetes treatment worldwide. He has initiated and sponsored programmes leading to diagnosis of hepatitis C, production of hepatitis B vaccine, HIV viral load estimation, first commercial sequence of HIV and technology for synthesis of insulin. He has keen interest in the Indian biotechnology industry.