The way-ahead for Indian biotech

Last fortnight has seen a lot of activity in the pharma industry. Foreign delegations and a confluence of researchers united at the Indo-Japanese conference, thousands of students, a multitude of exhibitors and distinguished speakers gathered in Hyderabad for the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress, the Diabetic Association of India assembled distinguished doctors from around India to celebrate its golden jubilee and several smaller events have energised the thoughts of almost everyone related to the pharma industry.

The flavour of the season seems to be novel drug discovery, a theme that overshadowed both the Indo-Japanese conference and the IPC. Two main attention catchers at the moment are biotech research and new drug delivery methods. We heard the entire industry clamour about the regulations and the ambiguity. In one of our earlier issues we had discussed that patenting of bio-products was suspect because of the ambiguities in the Indian patent laws.

So this time we decided to take a closer look at this sunrise industry that is supposedly the future of the pharma industry and the next big thing that will happen to the Indian economy. While it is true that overlapping laws and a lack of a biotech policy is affecting progress in the field, it is also true that those looking at innovation have opted to apply for patents with the USFDA. Besides a National Biotech Strategy has already been established. A number of biotech parks have come up with aid from the government.

As far as the product portfolio of companies is concerned, we found, that under the guise of bio-generics most companies make overlapping products targeted at common markets. This results in a competition amongst the Indian pharma companies and in a race to capture the same customer, organisations lower the product margins so too little is left for reinvesting in research.

A possible reason is that the product pipelines today are drying up. Of 108 patents pending in the USFDA 52 are challenges to existing patents. Research is expensive and the possibilities of failure are extremely high. To maintain revenue streams researchers recommend sustained efforts in novel drug delivery mechanisms. This can firstly help renew existing patents, retain consumers and also help finance research in unexplored areas.

We have one such success story for you this issue. The inhaled insulin story in our clinical update. The concept of delivering insulin via the lungs dates way back to 1924, but was dismissed because of the wastage of insulin. Now however, with the newfound capacity to produce human insulin, that loss can be overlooked for those who can afford the drug. While the market details of the launch of Exubera—Inhaled insulin to be brought by Pfizer and Aventis—are under wraps we caught up with the original makers of the drug to get you a glimpse of how it works. We will surely bring to you a detailed version of the Exubera story, but till then allow us to tickle your curiosity with this curtain raiser.

Sandeep Ajgaonkar

editorial@expresspharmaonline.com