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Extending Geographic Reach
By Laurie Sullivan
Pharmaceutical discovery and development is becoming increasingly globalized as companies located in North American and Western European markets realize the benefits of expanding their operations to regions emerging as important locations for research.
At CHI’s recent Drug Development in India meeting, Dan Warner from Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) discussed its experience outsourcing discovery chemistry to India. Warner cited access to new technologies, decreased cycle times, and overall cost from target to clinical candidate as reasons to consider outsourcing. NIBR’s outsourced custom synthesis projects has resulted in savings of approximately 20%.
However, limited inventory of research-grade chemicals in India, and lengthy lead times for imported chemicals can be challening. Still, Warner noted that outsourcing can avoid delays associated with building internal capacity. Outsourcing chemistry services in India is a “proven cost-effective solution,” he concluded.
Downstream of chemistry, clinical trials are also being run on an increasingly global basis. As companies contend with shrinking patient pools in the traditional markets, they are tapping areas such as Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, with sizable, often treatment-naïve, patient populations.
This issue’s BenchNotes address some of the challenges attendant to “going global” with clinical trials.
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