India has long been a nursery of qualified professionals for the generics industry which grew at a scorching pace in the last quarter of the last century. This expertise has helped Indian firms to make acquisitions in the unregulated markets where again there is a demand for qualified professionals in this field. This strength of the pharmaceutical industry in India is all set to indirectly help Brazil as well to become a $25 billion powerhouse from the $15 billion industry which it is today.
Brazil has a huge need for quality healthcare because of its size and the tropical nature of its climate which brings with it loads of diseases. At the same time with greater economic development and disposable incomes, the capacity of people to spend more on healthcare is rising exponentially. It will not therefore be a surprise if the size of this sector gets as big or even bigger than the Indian pharmaceutical and allied industries.
Brazil has for long ignored its education infrastructure. Thus, not many students are able to get seats in state- run institutions which impart free education. At the same time high and exorbitant costs of private institutions makes it beyond their reach. As a result only 500 or so students per every hundred thousand people in Brazil actually receive higher education. This figure includes all vocations.
Thus it is quite easy to gauge the massive shortage Brazil faces in all sectors. This is acutely felt in the pharmaceutical and allied sectors sector in particular due to the niche nature of this sector and in which easy transfer of skill sets is often not possible. The global skills shortage is worsening, with almost two fifth of companies reporting difficulties filling positions owing to lack of talent – the highest level in four years, according to a survey by a leading staffing firm.
At the same time there seems to be a steady stream of firms into Brazilian shores- Indian as well as European -to make their presence felt and thus accentuating shortage further. Companies like Nycomed , Valeant , Axela and Ranbaxy are already there with other multinationals making acquisition of state-owned firms.
This augurs well for a large and highly qualified pharma professional pool in India. India has a strong base of qualified managerial and supervisory bench strength in almost all such areas which will see an increased focus of development in Brazil soon . Areas like clinical research, CROs and anti venom centres will need more and more personnel apart from the generic and off patent manufactured product companies. India which too is facing a shortage of employable qualified personnel will now have to compete with Brazil for the same set of people. Our high comfort level to interact in English will make this pool of people even more sought after.
The disease occurrence in oncology, cardiology and infectious diseases seems to on par with the US. However, due to a population which has not been accustomed to allopathy, they form a perfect group for clinical trials without intervention. In short, every section of the pharmaceutical and life science business is expected to boom in Brazil in the next five years and hence the mad scramble for talent.
We can look at plugging this gap by way of better off shoring policies, growth and development of out reach plans of our educational institutions with leading manufacturers and service providers in Brazil. We must showcase our capabilities in SAS programming and statistical methods apart from a whole range of capabilities related to pharmaceutical , life sciences, devices and diagnostic sectors all of which are at the moment facing an acute shortage of personnel. Additionally a lasting impression about Brazil being a very friendly and accommodating country needs to be made internally for people to see it as a preferred employment destination apart from a tourist destination which it is known for at the moment. This will need active support from the government of India and the state government through the ministry of education.
To sum up, the inefficiencies of the Brazilian government to create and nurture an adequate talent pool should be cashed in on by Indian pharmaceutical firms and the government alike to plug this talent gap with Indian talent thus providing income to a large number of Indian students and managers and also earn valuable foreign exchange in the process.
The author is Associate Director,
Pharma Practice, Stanton Chase International