Salaries of Clinical Research Professionals in US

Clinical Research Organizational Chart

Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

India is home to more than one billion people, including 30 million with cardiovascular diseases, 25 million with type-2 diabetes, and 10 million with major psychiatric disorders. Large, extended families also still live in proximity to one another, making them attractive recruits for genetic linkage studies. And India's pharmaceutical market is the second largest in Asia, growing by more than 9% annually. The Indian pharmaceutical industry is estimated at US$ 5.40 billion and projected to grow up to US$ 7.40 billion.
 

R & D Expenditure in 2003-04 & 2002-03

Clinical Research Industry - An Indian Perspective

Clinical Research - The Future

India has become a signatory to TRIPS. Consequently, a new patent law has come into effect from January 2005. The new keyword for the pharmaceutical industry is innovation and to introduce new drugs, clinical trials are mandatory. They are to be conducted as per ICH GCP norms. The clinical trials that have been conducted in India till date have gone well. For majority of the studies, patient enrollment is a key advantage. This helps compress the development timeline and data quality is excellent.
Numerous audits in India are a testimony to level of quality. And data from clinical study in India have been successfully filled with international regulatory agencies. The potential realized at present is a fraction of the possible in India. Consistent with WTO guidelines effective from 2005, India will also offer 10-year tax concessions on revenue to companies making Research & Development (R&D) investments here. These incentives are expected to substantially increase R&D activities of both multinational and domestic biopharmaceutical companies.
Analysts are projecting that total Clinical Research spending in India will increase by more than 30% annually through 2010.

The Clinical Research industry in India has grown from Rs 20 crores to Rs 100 crores in the last three years. As per a recent McKinsey report, it is expected to touch Rs 5,000 crores by 2010 and will employ 50,000 people in the next five years.
There will be a huge demand for qualified and trained Clinical Research Professionals.
Many pharmaceutical organizations and Clinical Research organizations have already come forward to unlock the vast potential that India has, and are conducting Clinical Trials in India.
 

 
Trials are on for drug which is indicated for reduction of mortality in adult patients and can be used for sepsis. Clinical Trials have already been held on more than 600 patients for human insulin and insulin. Clinical Trials are being conducted on oncology and developing a new molecule for lung cancer.
Clinical trials are on 300 patients on a new malaria 'cocktail' drug that combines chloroquine (to which Indian malarial strains have developed resistance) and azithromycin, an antibiotic. Clinical Trials are also being conducted for drugs to treat osteoporosis, breast cancer and schizophrenia.
Global trials are on in India for treatment of a particular variant of lung cancer. One of the reasons for considering India is that it has a vast patient population infected by this type of lung cancer, which is primarily triggered by use of tobacco products. India is also being considered a prospective site for future clinical trials involving new drugs and therapies for treatment of different variants of blood cancer and colorectal diseases.
The trials in India are mostly in different areas like oncology, endocrinology, traumatology, sports medicine, pulmonary diseases, pediatric diseases, and infectious diseases.
The largest Clinical Trial outside US for a drug delivery device has been conducted in India.

India has numerous Clinical Research players with a global standard infrastructure and manpower. They are ready to support the drug development initiatives of several pharma companies and entrepreneurs. As the number of studies carried out by these major players is on the rise, the career prospects for Clinical Research professionals look positive. The number of players in the Clinical Research industry in India has risen to over hundred from less than eight, three years ago.