GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals India Ltd (GSK India Ltd) is open to collaborate with more R&D-based companies and institutions, which have promising research portfolio as well as capability in the country. The research collaborations are planned for the R&D initiatives of GSK India Ltd, the listed entity in India as well as the global research projects initiated by the parent company Glaxo SmithKline Plc.

This proposal is in view of not only cost advantages but with the objective of exploring innovative capabilities of Indian research organizations for the overall growth plan worked out in the company's future product portfolio, said S Kalyana Sundaram, managing director, GSK India, and vice president, South Asia, GSK International.

However, the company is absolutely averse to floating marketing alliances with local companies as the basic marketing principle of GSK is not compatible with the one it could see in the market that has been followed by local players, he asserted.

GSK's marketing practice is broadly through a medical communication with doctors with which it can take the prescribing doctors into full confidence about the efficacy and safety of their products. "Once the market is established with such confidence in doctors, it can guarantee the brand growth. On the other hand, by merely tying up with local companies for marketing, GSK has nothing to gain but there is a lot to lose," he said.

In the patent era, the company would introduce an array of new products in the market. But depending on the requirements and acceptability of the products, it will introduce these products one by one in the Indian market. On an average, the company will introduce at least one product a year from 2007 onwards, Kalyana Sundaram informed.

The company, which is the largest multinational drug company in the country, is also planning to sell the drugs in the country that are off patents globally. But this is a unique strategy adopted by the company for India as part of the growth plan, he added.