The $700 million, US-based Millipore Corporation, is looking at Millipore India for the development of technologies. In this connection, the multinational, high technology bioscience company has set up a research and development cell in Bangalore for the development of latest technologies in the separation and purification process for the pharma-biotech industry in the country.
Dr. Vinay Goel, president, Membrane Technology, Millipore Corporation, told Pharmabiz.com that some of the latest technologies would take off from here. There are also a number of products that were pioneered from India even before it was used in Europe and US. So Millipore India has certainly played a key role to play, he said.
The company is also looking at India for its innovative and creative technology-skilled workforce. It is in the process of setting up a Process Development Centre, which is a lab that will have all the process equipment and where its customers can learn how to operate and optimize the latest equipment used in the pharma-biotech industry for simplifying tasks.
To meet the demand for trained technicians in the pharma-biotech sector, the company will also have a dialogue with educational institutions offering postgraduate programmes in biotechnology to integrate product training into its curriculum. All theory and practical aspects of the product will be provided by Millipore India, said Subhash Bagaria, chairman, Millipore India.
"The current training is out dated. Since we have the infrastructure, the students can get comprehensive and intensive training so that when students finish the course, they are actually trained for the industry before they join the organization. If one has to set up such a lab, one has to invest around half a million dollars for the equipment. The number of students who will get this training will be finalized after the proposal is accepted by educational institutions,'' informed Dr Goel.
Millipore has launched 'Safe Pass', which is a pioneering technology that will enable companies to do trails to eliminate selective contaminants or virus. The products having the highest brand recall for the company are Milli-Q, state-of-the-art water purifiers in the India market and 'Durapore' a membrane product which is recognized world wide.
``The Rs 41 crore Millipore India has a dominant presence in the country and has captured 85 per cent of the market share in lab water equipment. The strengths of the company are technology, building partnerships and relationships with customers, high technical sales support and adherence to highest quality processes,'' said Sudhir Kant, president, Millipore India.
``The company is also looking at mergers and acquisitions. It has been engaged in a number of acquisitions of small companies and technologies. These acquisitions are not mere financial acquisitions but are technology related. We are therefore looking at small companies which we consider are the building blocks. Our aim is to achieve a situation where we can help any pharma company set up a plant by providing equipment for research and development, validation, manufacturing and quality control,'' noted Dr.Goel.