India is emerging as a favourable destination to conduct clinical trials, as per a joint report by PwC India & USAIC (US-India Chamber of Commerce) titled, “Clinical Trial opportunities in India”. The report was released at the USAIC BioPharma & Healthcare Summit held virtually on May 3.
“Clinical trial activity in India has been increasing steadily since 2014 due to several key regulatory reforms aimed towards global harmonisation, enabling open access to clinical trials in India. The country’s diverse population, combined with its rapidly advancing healthcare infrastructure, provides a fertile ground for clinical trials to flourish.
This is an opportunity for top biopharma companies to develop a long-term strategy that focuses on the key enablers of innovation and strategic partnerships in India,” said Sujay Shetty, Partner & Global Health Industries Leader, PwC. However, more needs to be done given that India has an overall clinical trial participation of over 3% but contributes upwards of 15% to the global burden of most high prevalent diseases (e.g., respiratory infections, cardiovascular, diabetes, cervical cancer), representing an untapped potential for top pharma. The report underlined that biopharma can benefit from the critical enablers of innovation in the private healthcare system in India and leverage the rapidly expanding healthcare infrastructure in the country.
Commenting on the opportunity for the private sector, Karun Rishi, President, USAIC said, “The growing interest in clinical trials in India presents a significant opportunity for private biopharma companies to leverage the country’s rich diversity and robust healthcare infrastructure.” The report suggested that the private sector is a well-suited channel for the top biopharma to conduct more efficient clinical trials with easier and faster access to investigators and patients. Also, it said, Indian states with high disease prevalence (e.g., cancer) also have the most number of tier-1 cities, with advanced medical infrastructure and availability of investigators.
Targeting these states can provide biopharma companies with faster access to patients, sites, and investigators. Total number of investigators has increased by 2 times between 2015 and 2020, with the majority of the increase occurring in the internal medicine and oncology specialisations.