Asia Times

India's blossoming biotech boom

19 June 2007

Bangalore - India's biotechnology industry is on a roll. Revenues touched US$2 billion in 2006-07, up from $1 billion in 2004-05 and $1.5 billion in 2005-06. The growth of India's biotech sector has been overshadowed by the dazzling achievements of its information-technology (IT) sector. But the biotech companies are signaling that their ambitions are no less.

Powered by an average growth rate of 30-35% per year (more than double the industry's global growth rate), the Indian biotech sector has set a target of $5 billion in revenues by fiscal 2010-11. The Indian government's Department of Biotechnology says annual sales could touch $25 billion by 2015.

India's biotech sector has often been compared to its IT sector. Like IT, the biotech business is on an upswing and has a formidable global presence. In terms of volume, it is ranked fourth in the world, while in terms of value of output it stands 13th. And as with the IT sector, it is the vast pool of skilled manpower and low costs that are drawing global biotech giants to partner with Indian companies.

Indian biotech companies have been hugely successful in bringing down the price of drugs. For instance, Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics has made hepatitis B vaccine available at a cost of $1.25 per course, in comparison with the multinationals' version that carries a price tag of $125. Shantha Biotechnics supplies nearly 40% of the United Nations Children's Fund's global hepatitis B vaccine requirements, which is distributed in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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