Clinical studies, which are already making waves in the global clinical, testing arena, will be shifting towards genetics and bio-chemistry in the coming decade, said Dr Dennis Gillings, chairman and CEO of Quintiles Transnational Corp.

Dr Gillings was in the city to open the central laboratory in Mumbai. It also marked the company's decade long service in India in clinical research development. "The opening of this new lab in India symbolizes the rapid growth and achievement of our team here, as well as the acceptance of India as a centre for clinical research," Gillings said.

Dr Ferzaan Engineer, CEO of Quintiles in India said that, the regulatory system in India was fast changing with the new set of ethical guidelines being promoted by ICMR.

Dr Gillings was also quick to point out that a decade ago, the regulatory body issuing a clearance took quite some time while the situation has now speeded up to three months, which he stated was far better, compared to other Asian countries.

He said, that he was satisfied with the response in India. He added that, there were exceptional markets that registered far better results than India. He gave the example of east Europe, which is an extremely competitive market with 29 per cent of the patients for global clinical testing and trials while that of India remained at 6 per cent.

Quintiles so far have conducted about 180 trials in India over the last 10 years. The yearly count is around 30 trials. Also 30 of the world's top-selling drugs have been developed or commercialised by Quintiles. In addition to its central lab and clinical research businesses, Quintiles India offers electrocardiogram (ECG), interactive voice response (IVR) and data management services.