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Reality Check: India v/s China: Investment in R&D and output.

rkjindal91

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Mar 16, 2011
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China bankrolls R&D while India plays
the miser

Jan 9, 2012, 12.42AM IST TNN [ Nitin Sethi ]

NEW DELHI: Did Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underplay China's
superiority over India in the field of science, research and technology?

Analysis of new data shared at the
National Science Congress shows that China has been far ahead of India for a
decade and the wide gap between the two has only deepened over past years. India published a mere 233,027 scientific papers in 2010 compared to 969,315 research articles by China.

This is data from Elsevier, one the biggest publishers of scientific research in the world. China recorded a 22.83% growth in publishing scientific research compared to 14.27% by Indian researchers. Elsevier data shows that Chinese scientists are also much more up to date than the Indian scientific community. On an index of state of art science, China was placed at 0.86 with India coming on the negative end of the scale at -2.48 though the citation levels (how many other researchers read the papers) was higher for India than China on average.
The publishing giant also looked at areas of competencies or quality research and again came up with the vast difference between the two. India had 159 areas of competencies in different scientific fields while China had 885 such areas. While India is publishing more in chemistry. engineering, biology and biotech, China is publishing a lot more in computer
sciences, medical specialties, mathematics, physics and health sciences.

The vast difference between the two is not just in published science but also patenting of technology -- taking pure sciences forward into applications. China patents five times more than India for every billion dollars of GDP and the growth in registering new patents has risen rapidly over past five years. In 2005, China had filed 93,485 patents and this galloped to 153,060 in 2007.

There is a reason why India is nowhere
close to the Chinese scientific behemoth
-- Indian government doesn't invest half
as much as the Chinese state does in
scientific research and development and
the distance between the two is widening. China is going to target
investing 3% of its GDP into scientific
endeavours by 2020 while India is still
'aspiring' to ramp it up from the current
0.9% to 2% by 2017.

Percentages, however, do not tell the
whole story. China's GDP is $6,980 billion
as per IMF compared to India's $1,843
billion. China investing about 2.5% of its
GDP last year in S&T works out to $174
billion compared to India's 0.9% which works out to roughly $16.5 billion. By Indian government's own admission,
even a decade ago in 2002-03, China had 8.5 lakh researchers producing 40,000 PhD theses in sciences compared to
India's 1.5 lakh people producing about
1,000 PhD theses in R&D.

The route both countries have taken to enhance their prowess in the world of science is also different. While China invests heavily through state-run scientific institutions, it also pulls in a large amount of private investment from outside. It has nearly 100 international research facilities that have come up
since 2003. India's public investment in R&D has, in comparison, gone down with time and has been unable to attract partnerships with the private sector as well. The PM indicated in his speech at Bhubaneswar on Tuesday that he would seek to increase the share of private investment in S&T (an oft repeated comment) but that may not be easy unless the state is ready to put its own money in this long gestation, high risk investment.


In the end, what former President A P J
Abdul Kalam advised students at the
Science Congress on Wednesday may
make more sense than competing with
China: ''do your own thing''.
 
Not only that the professors for pHD are fvcking arrogant and reject the thesis atleast 10-20 times and after doing much chamchagiri, they finally accept the thesis.. Congress... hahaha what to expect from these losers..
 
Not only that the professors for pHD are fvcking arrogant and reject the thesis atleast 10-20 times and after doing much chamchagiri, they finally accept the thesis.. Congress... hahaha what to expect from these losers..

Its Indian mentality dude... unless you butter them up, they wont do a thing. I have personally seen IIT PHd students going to grocery shopping for their guides. It's an unwritten fact that you can't get a pHD from IIT in less than 5 years. Even when they do, they are treated as 2nd class doctorates compared to the ones doing it from abroad. Even for Mtechs in IIT the situation is not that grim like for PHDs but it is still not fair.

Only few Institutions remains where hard work and honesty is hold in high esteem...
IISc is one academic institution... then maybe ISRO. otherwise be it DRDO or IITs the situation is grim.
 
Is pharma steering India's tryst as a major R&D hub?
India's transition from a protected to a relatively free market economy exposed domestic companies to cut-throat competition in the marketplace. Pressures emanating from enhanced competition is slowly yielding results as more and more Indian companies are investing in research and development (R&D). They are working overtime to improve the overall quality of their existing product and services lines.

It undoubtedly shows up in the statistics as India has steadily emerged as a major global R&D hub despite starting late. According to Battelle-R&D Magazine, India with a spending of 30 billion US dollars globally ranks eighth. While it is way below the US, which spends $427.2 billion and is the largest R&D spender nation, it underscores the fact that India has moved up in the pecking order which includes leading innovators like China, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

But the key question here is: Whether it is a qualitative transformation or is a paradigm shift from replication to innovation taking place? Take for example, the pharmaceutical sector in India. The average R&D expenditure by Indian Pharma companies is close to 6%. Going by the last reported financials, Lupin spends the most 8.5% of its total sales on R&D, followed by Biocon (7.5%), Glenmark Pharma (7.25%), Dr. Reddy's (6.8%), Cadila Healthcare (6.4%), Ranbaxy (6.1%), Sun Pharma (5.4%), Cipla (4.2%), and IPCA Labs (3.8%).

Yet Indian Pharma companies' expenditure on R&D is nowhere near their American and European counterparts. Globally recognised drug majors like Eli Lilly (US) spends around 21% of its total sales on R&D, while Merck (US), AstraZeneca (UK), GlaxoSmithkline (UK), Roche (Switzerland), Pfizer (US), Novo Nordisk (Denmark) spends around 17.6%, 16.4%, 14.3%, 19%, 13.5%, 14.5% respectively.

Explaining the rationale behind the low spend on R&D by Indian counterparts, Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research, Angel Broking, Mumbai said, "Basically success ratio in R&D is very low, even if a company is spending a billion dollar on the development of drug, there is no certainty of the returns (ROI)".

The above view is shared by many industry experts.Ranjit Kapadia, Senior VP, Centrum Broking stresses, "Global pharma companies spend mainly on NCE (new chemical entity) which requires a lot of investment. For instance development of new drug involves a cost of around $800 million which is not affordable for Indian counterparts. Money spent by Indian Pharma companies on R&D, basically goes for generic product development and ANDA filings."

While affordability is a major obstacle, Indian pharma companies' business models based on the generic drug manufacturing business haven't helped them to tread on the path of innovation. Rather than innovating new drugs, our companies replicate branded drugs when their patent expires.

"Companies having rich cash flow position can afford this and as R&D inherently requires a lot of investment, Indian companies can't afford so much money on the R&D. Furthermore, they have no experience of developing a new drug and they have always been in generic space (copycat version)," Nangra at Angel Broking added.

If change has to come, then the pharma industry must usher to the innovation stage in drug development from replication process. A positive side of the Indian Pharma story is that they spend almost at par on R&D when compared to the global generic counterparts. Global Generic companies like Teva (Israel) spends 5.9% of its sales on R&D while companies like Mylan (US), Hospira (US), Watson(US), Stada Arzneimittel (Germany), Gedeon Richter (Hungary) spend around 4.8%, 6.4%, 6.4%, 2.9%, 9.3% respectively.

In recent years, Indian companies like Glenmark and Biocon have promised to develop original drugs. In last fiscal (2011-12), Glenmark spent approximately 60% of total R&D expenditure towards innovation R&D and balance 40% was incurred on overall Generics R&D. For instance, Glenmark successfully completed the Phase I trial of GRC 15300, a first-in-class TRPV3 inhibitor for treatment of pain. Similarly, Biocon has completed Phase III studies on Itolizumab (psoriasis molecule). Similarly, the company has commenced phase III trials in India for Trastuzumab (Herceptin, Mylan alliance).

Add to this, efforts by smaller companies which are breaking barriers to develop original drugs. Experts reckon the efforts of these companies. Nangra at Angel Broking said, "It depends upon company to company like Glenmark and Biocon are taking new initiatives, however it would take lot of time when Indian companies would start spending huge amount on new drug development."

Likewise, Ranjit Kapadia at Centrum Broking said, "Though four Indian companies like Glenmark Pharma, Dr Reddy's , Piramal Healthcare, Sun Pharma are working on the development of new drug , yet it's a still a long way to travel for Indian counterparts to match the amount spend by global innovators."
Is pharma steering India's tryst as a major R&D hub? - India - DNA

Is pharma steering India's tryst as a major R&D hub?
India's transition from a protected to a relatively free market economy exposed domestic companies to cut-throat competition in the marketplace. Pressures emanating from enhanced competition is slowly yielding results as more and more Indian companies are investing in research and development (R&D). They are working overtime to improve the overall quality of their existing product and services lines.

It undoubtedly shows up in the statistics as India has steadily emerged as a major global R&D hub despite starting late. According to Battelle-R&D Magazine, India with a spending of 30 billion US dollars globally ranks eighth. While it is way below the US, which spends $427.2 billion and is the largest R&D spender nation, it underscores the fact that India has moved up in the pecking order which includes leading innovators like China, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

But the key question here is: Whether it is a qualitative transformation or is a paradigm shift from replication to innovation taking place? Take for example, the pharmaceutical sector in India. The average R&D expenditure by Indian Pharma companies is close to 6%. Going by the last reported financials, Lupin spends the most 8.5% of its total sales on R&D, followed by Biocon (7.5%), Glenmark Pharma (7.25%), Dr. Reddy's (6.8%), Cadila Healthcare (6.4%), Ranbaxy (6.1%), Sun Pharma (5.4%), Cipla (4.2%), and IPCA Labs (3.8%).

Yet Indian Pharma companies' expenditure on R&D is nowhere near their American and European counterparts. Globally recognised drug majors like Eli Lilly (US) spends around 21% of its total sales on R&D, while Merck (US), AstraZeneca (UK), GlaxoSmithkline (UK), Roche (Switzerland), Pfizer (US), Novo Nordisk (Denmark) spends around 17.6%, 16.4%, 14.3%, 19%, 13.5%, 14.5% respectively.

Explaining the rationale behind the low spend on R&D by Indian counterparts, Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP Research, Angel Broking, Mumbai said, "Basically success ratio in R&D is very low, even if a company is spending a billion dollar on the development of drug, there is no certainty of the returns (ROI)".

The above view is shared by many industry experts.Ranjit Kapadia, Senior VP, Centrum Broking stresses, "Global pharma companies spend mainly on NCE (new chemical entity) which requires a lot of investment. For instance development of new drug involves a cost of around $800 million which is not affordable for Indian counterparts. Money spent by Indian Pharma companies on R&D, basically goes for generic product development and ANDA filings."

While affordability is a major obstacle, Indian pharma companies' business models based on the generic drug manufacturing business haven't helped them to tread on the path of innovation. Rather than innovating new drugs, our companies replicate branded drugs when their patent expires.

"Companies having rich cash flow position can afford this and as R&D inherently requires a lot of investment, Indian companies can't afford so much money on the R&D. Furthermore, they have no experience of developing a new drug and they have always been in generic space (copycat version)," Nangra at Angel Broking added.

If change has to come, then the pharma industry must usher to the innovation stage in drug development from replication process. A positive side of the Indian Pharma story is that they spend almost at par on R&D when compared to the global generic counterparts. Global Generic companies like Teva (Israel) spends 5.9% of its sales on R&D while companies like Mylan (US), Hospira (US), Watson(US), Stada Arzneimittel (Germany), Gedeon Richter (Hungary) spend around 4.8%, 6.4%, 6.4%, 2.9%, 9.3% respectively.

In recent years, Indian companies like Glenmark and Biocon have promised to develop original drugs. In last fiscal (2011-12), Glenmark spent approximately 60% of total R&D expenditure towards innovation R&D and balance 40% was incurred on overall Generics R&D. For instance, Glenmark successfully completed the Phase I trial of GRC 15300, a first-in-class TRPV3 inhibitor for treatment of pain. Similarly, Biocon has completed Phase III studies on Itolizumab (psoriasis molecule). Similarly, the company has commenced phase III trials in India for Trastuzumab (Herceptin, Mylan alliance).

Add to this, efforts by smaller companies which are breaking barriers to develop original drugs. Experts reckon the efforts of these companies. Nangra at Angel Broking said, "It depends upon company to company like Glenmark and Biocon are taking new initiatives, however it would take lot of time when Indian companies would start spending huge amount on new drug development."

Likewise, Ranjit Kapadia at Centrum Broking said, "Though four Indian companies like Glenmark Pharma, Dr Reddy's , Piramal Healthcare, Sun Pharma are working on the development of new drug , yet it's a still a long way to travel for Indian counterparts to match the amount spend by global innovators."
Is pharma steering India's tryst as a major R&D hub? - India - DNA
 

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