Several leading global pharmaceutical companies continue to find India as a hot destination for clinical trial outsourcing. As per the available data, the leading global players in the segment are currently outsourcing 139 trials from India, while they are conducting 98 trials in China. The data shows that GlaxoSmithKline leads the list of multinationals, which are conducting clinical trials in India, with 22 trials followed by J&J 22, Eli Lilly and BMS 17 each, Pfizer 16, Sanofi Aventis 15, Astra Zeneca 10, Novartis 9, Merck 8 and Roche 5.

Majority of the trials are being conducted in India are phase III trials and it forms 65 per cent of the total trials undergoing in India. Phase II trials form 16 per cent and phase IV trials 15 per cent, whereas, phase I trials form only four per cent of the total trials. As India has the largest number of diabetic patients in the world and a very large proportion of patients with cardiac disorders, it is expected to become a sought after destination for clinical trials in these therapeutic areas in the future.

Commenting on the trend, Dr Anand Bidarkar, vice president, business development, Siro Clinpharm Pvt Ltd, said, "The increasing clinical trial flow to India is a result of several fundamental strengths. Factors such as large patient pool, competent medical professionals, better site infrastructure, potential cost and time savings play a key role in the increased flow of clinical trials to India. More over India has the largest number of patients in currently hot areas for clinical research like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, AIDS and oncology."

He further added that these factors have enabled India to offer a fast track alternative to clinical R&D in traditional locations. Outsourcing to India has shown to provide benefits in terms of rapid site identification, patient enrolment and other benefits like lesser number of total sites required. Moreover, trials can be completed in India with a lesser cost compared to the US and Western Europe.