After a brief lull, the biotech sector in India is once again put back in the growth track. The latest Export Trade Policy 2004-'09 announcing tax sops for biotech parks on par with 100 per cent Export-Oriented Units is perceived by the industry as clearly in line with the new NDA government's stated policy initiatives to infuse the much-awaited thrust into the biotechnology sector in the country.
Indian biotech industry, which was supposedly lost a little bit of its sheen a while ago due to inadequate venture fund support, has registered 39 per cent growth with a turnover of Rs 3,265 crore in 2003-04 against Rs 1,840 crore in the previous year. The number of companies in the sector has grown to 235 from 150 in 2002-2003, says the second ABLE (Association of Biotechnology Led Entrepreneurs) BioSpectrum Biotechnology Survey conducted recently.
The sector is gathering momentum with revenues of over $700 million (Rs 3,265 crore) in 2003-04 and is on its way to cross $ 1 billion in the current year. If the run continues, the industry will reach goal of $5 billion in 2010, the survey noted.
The key markets for Indian biotechnology sector include enzymes, vaccines, diagnostics, veterinary products, agri-biotech products. The industry comprises mainly of pure biotechnology start-ups and large established companies in pharmaceuticals, agriculture and information technology. Market leaders in this industry are Biocon, Serum Institute of India, Wockhardt, Shantha Biotechnics, Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, , Zydus Cadila, Aventis Pharma, Rhein Biotech and Reliance Life Sciences.
According to the survey, during the year, two leading biotech companies: Serum and Biocon surpassed the Rs 500 crore mark and accounted for a third of the industry size. While Serum was the largest biotech group with revenues of Rs. 555 crore, Biocon was a close second with Rs.549 crore. Pune-based Serum Institute, part of the Poonawalla Group is the largest exporter of vaccines and immuno-biologicals from India was ranked No.2 with revenues approximately of approximately Rs 491 crore from sale of biotechnology products in 2003-04.
New Delhi-based Panacea Biotech is the third largest company with Rs 149 crore of biotech product sales. While Mumbai-based Nicholas Piramal was ranked fourth followed by Novo Nordisk at fifth slot. Their respective biotech businesses stood at Rs 130 crore and Rs 110 crore.
All the five companies grossed in excess of Rs 100 crore in sales. With the total biotech revenues of Rs 1,382 crore, the top five alone accounted for about 42 per cent of the total market share.
While the total biotech exports accounted for Rs 55.65 per cent share of the total biotech sector, the domestic business accounted for 44.35 per cent market share. Bio Pharma sector accounted for the largest share of exports.
Indian enzymes market is estimated to be around INR 1,200 million in the year 2000-01 . India imports about 70 per cent of the total enzyme consumption which is mainly for textiles (20 per cent), pharmaceuticals (16 per cent), detergents (10 per cent), leather (7.5 per cent) and starch (7.5 per cent). The key players in industrial enzymes are Novo Nordisk, Genecor, Biocon India, EPIC Enzymes, Maps (India) and ABL Limited.
The vaccine market in India is around USD 100 million and growing at the rate of more than 20 per cent per annum. The vaccine business is the largest contributor to the biopharma sector. It accounted for almost 28 per cent of the market share. While the exports for the human health vaccine manufacturers nearly remained same, the animal healthcare segment grew by 25-30 per cent. Some of the leading players in Indian vaccine market include Serum Institute of India, Biological Evans, Shantha Biotechnics, GlaxoSmithkline, Aventis Pharma, Wyeth Lederle, Zydus Cadila, Wockhardt, Bharat Biotech, Panacea Biotech, Haffkine etc.
India's diagnostic market is estimated to be around USD 50 million. Monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies for disease immunodiagnosis, tissue typing, clinical assays and research constitute a huge portion of the market. Key industry players in this space include Lupin Labs, Cadila, Dr Reddy's, Ranbaxy etc.
The animal health biotech market is yet another expanding field. It is expected to touch USD 200 million by the year 2011. MNCs and large companies with animal health divisions based in India include Bayer, Aventis Pharma, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithkline, Wyeth, Wockhardt, Ranbaxy and Alembic.
Over the last two decades, India has developed an adequate infrastructure and trained manpower in modern as well as classical biotechnology, mainly due to active support of Department of Biotechnology.
Currently, India has about 200 government laboratories and several private research institutions, with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for modern biotechnology research.
With active support from University Grants Commission (UGC) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT), about 1,000 students graduate every year in biotechnology and allied sciences under several postgraduate programmes offered at 47 universities and institutions across the country. India has also established network of 60 bio-informatics centres having more than 100 databases and over l0,000 users nation-wide. Postgraduate and diploma courses at some of these centres train more than 100 students in bio-informatics every year.
Several state governments including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka have taken proactive initiatives in promoting biotechnology by formulating Biotechnology Policies with focus on setting up Biotech Parks, Incubators, Centres of Biotech Excellence and providing fiscal incentives to the investors.