The biotech industry is going great guns. The industry’s revenue hit the $2-billion mark during 2006-07, up from $1 billion in 2004-05. The industry is now aiming to garner revenue of $5 billion before 2010.

This sterling performance has its roots abroad. According to industry players, escalating research along with development expenses and stringent policies are making manufacturers from the regulated markets look towards India for cutting costs.

A Frost and Sullivan report says multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies from western Europe and the US are using India and China for their phased studies on emerging markets. “Besides, cheaper clinical trials and extra benefits such as low labour cost and superior technical abilities are boosting foreign investments,” says the report.

In India, pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Gujarat, Hyderabad and Bangalore are fast improving their abilities to provide enhanced collaborative and outsourced research and development in drug development, biotechnology and chemicals.

Compared with other emerging markets - including Brazil, Mexico, Russia and Poland - India and China are surfacing as economic strongholds for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. Increased global and domestic demand and rising supplier bases for active pharmaceutical ingredients are propelling growth.

The industry was slow to start, but it has gained speed. Although the current share of the Indian biotech industry in the global market is just 1.1 per cent, it has the potential to become a prominent player in the international arena. According to a Frost & Sullivan research, the key success factors for India in the biotech industry are a large and strong pool of qualified scientists and engineers.