According to the latest study from PricewaterhouseCoopers, India and China are the leading recipients of outsourcing for the pharmaceutical industry. It also reveals how the nature of such outsourcing is changing drastically.

The report shows that the market opportunity, drug development and the overall growth opportunities of the pharmaceutical companies during the past has resulted in this shift in locations. The report reveals three major growths have resulted in pharmaceutical outsourcing to Asia:

• High level innovation: Earlier intellectual property (IP) concerns were a trend in the pharma industry, but now, such concerns have been overcome and the larger pharmaceutical companies are trying to set up in Asia.

• Speedy growth of clinical trials: There has been a rapid growth of clinical trials in countries like Japan, Europe, Asia and North America in recent years. Asia has shown the maximum growth in this respect. In fact, China has shown better results amongst the other Asian countries. China will have 428 registered clinical trials by the end of 2008.

• Development of the pharmaceutical industry: Asia has now reached the international standard in the development of the pharmaceutical industry. The Asian CMOs are thereby getting more outsourcing orders from bigger pharmaceutical companies. At present, India comes just after US for having the largest number of FDA-approved pharmaceutical facilities.

Presently, Korea and Taiwan, after India and China are also showing considerable development in offering a proper environment for pharmaceutical industries. These countries offer excellent facilities to build up a proper pharma industry. Qualified scientists, growth opportunities and a competitive market provide a base for the overall development of the industry.
 

The report further reveals that these countries have shown remarkable development to meet international standards. This change can also be noticed in the labor market. Over time, it is expected that this difference will gradually narrow down.
 

According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Associate Director, Beatrijs Van Liedekerke,  “We are seeing pharma outsourcing moving up the value chain in Asia. China and India will continue to spearhead growth in the Asian pharmaceutical sector but, alongside them, Singapore will maintain its position as a centre for research and innovation.”