Pharm-Olam International Ltd., the US headquartered contract research organisation (CRO), a privately owned company has set up its Indian operations in Bangalore in February 2003. The company has also opened centres in Italy, South Africa and Spain, which are viewed as emerging markets for contract research business. The India branch is in the process of evaluating assignments. It hopes to build on the patient recruitment and talent of qualified clinicians in the country.

India was identified by Pharm-Olam for its expansion plans because of the accessibility to vast patient pools, availability of medical investigators and large clinical facilities or hospitals. "The adherence to quality and the awareness on the need for stringent standards to be maintained in research is high among our doctors, most of them who are also academicians, Dr. Radhika Bobba, country manager Pharm-Olam International (India) Pvt. Ltd. told Pharmabiz.com.

Since its inception in the US in 1994 as a medium-sized multinational CRO, the company's services in drug development for the pharma-biotech sector has focused on quality, timelines and competitive costs. Its services include organising and managing Phase I-IV trails, drug development strategies, feasibility studies, protocol designs, import-export licensing, product registrations, quality control audits, medical writing, investigator recruitment and pharmaco-vigilance for sponsors located in US, Latin America, Western and Central Europe, apart from other emerging markets.

The India office, according to Dr. Bobba, which is currently low key in appearance, has a comprehensive grasp of the Indian market with high-impact-driven strategies for expansion in place.

With its parent company's success in ensuring high sponsor satisfaction and repeat business to the tune of 77 percent, Dr. Bobba is putting in a focussed strategy to make the best of the Indian clinical expertise in India.

The advantage of the CROs in India is that all the clinicians- doctors, nurses and technicians undergo extensive training before they are inducted for the research programme.

Pharm-Olam International is specialising in the emerging markets because of access to patients matching demand enrolment criteria, fast recruitment periods, quick regulatory approvals, high patient compliance, ease of follow-up, quality work conducted to ICH/GCP/FDA standards, ability to communicate in English and data from studies done under IND that are acceptable for FDA.