Interview

'Clinical research is the next big career'

Clinical research market in India is still in its infancy. Advances in clinical research education will boost its growth to match global standards and offer a lucrative career option. A K Nair, COO, Institute of Clinical Research (India), highlights the missing links, in conversation with Arshiya Khan

What is the current status of clinical research (CR) education in India?

Clinical trials market in India is growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60 percent. The market size at present from the CRO business is $60 million. The same is projected to grow to $1.5 billion by 2010, by which the industry will spend $300 million plus on clinical trials in India, as per Goldman Sachs, Centre watch, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey. The same will be valued between $500 million and $1 billion by 2010.

What are the challenges faced by this segment and how can they be overcome?

Despite the availability of infrastructure and manpower in India, the area of CR is still in its infancy here. Although there has been satisfactory development of the drug industry and health care facilities in India, the area of CR still lags. This calls for the development of its capacities and capabilities in terms of infrastructure, regulatory structure, and formulation of specialised pool of research investigators.

Increasingly, a need is being felt for development of institute(s) that may provide training and education in the clinical research segment and meet the growing demand of skilled manpower by the industry. If we desire to keep pace with the global advances in the field of pharmaceutical research, we need to set-up training institutes that can impart innovative and intellectually challenging education of the highest academic standards.

The institutes that are developed should have all modern infrastructural facilities of library, computer laboratories, audio-visual facilities, on-line training, and placement cells. And it should aim to generate such professionals who can represent India in good light, which attracts further international collaborations. Also, this will help to organise this sector in a well-defined mould, whose interests will have to be catered at both local and international level. This will go a long way in launching and boosting India as a major player in this area of research and ensure that it does not lag behind for want of trained manpower.

How has CR progressed in India as a career option and in education?

CR is the next big career. The CR market worldwide is worth over $52 billion. There are more than 2,50,000 positions vacant globally and the salaries vary approximately $40,000 per annum for a clinical research coordinator to almost $1,00,000 per annum for a business development manager. These large numbers speak volumes about the lucrative career and its infinite employment opportunities. Big companies offer big bucks. Even a trainee gets no where less than Rs 15,000 per month.

CR is a very good option for students or working executives. There is a huge demand for qualified and trained clinical research professionals. CR requires professionals both in hospitals and CROs.

As it is a manpower intensive industry, there are opportunities in business development, investigation, reporting and trials. The industry is extremely specialised and requires well-trained resources with adequate knowledge of the industry and the complex regulations in this sector.

The challenges in skilled manpower to meet the growing demand in clinical research are huge, how well trained are students from ICRI to tackle the same?

There will be a huge demand for qualified and trained CR professionals. The large numbers can be attributed to the fact that this industry offers lucrative employment opportunities. ICRI aims to nurture and create an environment of learning, and implement international standards in the interests of clinical research students. This is to ensure that India meets the global expectations as an emerging CR destination.

However, the need for well-trained, skilled manpower to feed the need in the market today is important. Interaction between employers and college/university educators is critical to coordinate the appropriate preparation of students for the CR workforce and the integration of technological developments. Advances in CR that are generated in industry must be transferred effectively to college and university classrooms, and faculty and student skill development must keep pace for appropriate workforce preparation to occur. Exploring and perhaps improving the industry-academia connection in workforce and education may lead to developing and implementing more successful strategies for developing high-quality, industry-relevant human resource pool. The government will be taking the initiatives and ICRI will extend its support as desired to reach the target audience.

How does ICRI intend to explore and improve the industry-academia connection?

ICRI has introduced a dedicated Corporate Interface division in 2006. All necessary interaction and review related to course content, workshops, corporate training programmes, conference, inviting industry personnel's for visiting lectures are organised by this division. ICRI is the only institute to introduce this innovative system in bridging the gap between industries.

How important are public private partnerships (PPP) for CR in India?

PPPs should be pursued more vigorously if the benefits of the clinical research sector in India are to reach and benefit the global CR market. Indian companies are playing an important role in early drug discovery processes due to their substantial experience in the field of generic drugs with India becoming an established venue for chemistry and drug discovery developments rather than China.

Tell us about the recent developments at ICRI

Riding on the healthcare boom in India, ICRI has launched its healthcare division--ICRI HEALTH. The division focuses on imparting structured and relevant education and bringing in the science of management into healthcare services—both for medical tourism and hospital operations management.

ICRI has also recently partnered with Singapore Health, a public sector healthcare institution based in Singapore. The objective of partnering with the institution is to improve hospital management processes and to expose the clinicians to the expertise available in specialty areas like liver transplant, stem transplant, renal transplants etc in India.

ICRI has also launched a new campus in Hyderabad and is opening a new campus in UK by next year. It is also seeking for formal tie-ups with three universities in the US.

Could you highlight the teaching methodology used at ICRI?

As the pioneers of CR studies in India, ICRI imparts innovative and intellectually challenging education of the highest academic standards. A new teaching methodology has been adopted by the institute—Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)—that enables access to library resources, journals, study materials, papers, lectures, and updates from its partner University in UK, Cranfield University, to its students. The teaching methodologies and experienced faculty at ICRI are instrumental in giving the industry CR professionals who are competent to take up responsible tasks within the industry.

We aim to be recognised as a centre of excellence and become a pioneering institution in promoting ethical clinical research in the country.
We are also firming up plans to spend about Rs 50 crore to expand to larger campus in Bangalore. We are also planning campuses at Kolkata, Pune and Chennai. Whereas on a global scale we are looking at Dubai, China, Singapore, Srilanka, Bangla-desh, US and UK.

arshiya.khan@expressindia.com