Encourage a reverse “brain drain,” say representatives of the clinical research community citing the China example as a suggestion to help the Indian biopharmaceutical industry make the research journey from generics to innovative medicines.
Over a 15 years-plus timeframe, China has created an innovative ecosystem and are today able to have “an inside-out product …from China to the world,” Anirban Roychowdhury, Honorary General Secretary with the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) told businessline. The Chinese government through its “Thousand talents programme” attracted top scientific talent back to the country, said Roychowdhury, adding that several Indian diaspora who work in the international biopharmaceutical industry as scientists or are part of international regulatory framework as reviewers can be brought back to India for their expertise. That helps address the immediate manpower requirement, with highly technical and resourceful manpower, he added.
In fact, the Centre has been increasingly pushing the domestic pharmaceutical industry to move up the innovation curve. And, biotechnology; healthcare and med-tech are among the 13 priority sectors outlined by the Prime Minister Research Chair (PMRC) scheme that seeks to attract researchers from abroad to national research institutions, for example, to help build an innovative ecosystem, said the clinical research industry representative.
Translational labs
The Centre has shown its intent with the ₹10,000 crore BioPharma Shakti funding announcement, among other things, but to move into the innovation space, the industry requires early-stage translational labs, that do the job much faster, said Roychowdhury.
This involves discovery of the molecule, translating that discovery from the lab and developing it further, he said, adding that such infrastructure needs to come up in academic institutions and hospitals for situations that involve the first-exposure of the molecule to humans, for example. Besides putting in place such early-stage translational labs, he said, regulatory bandwith to evaluate newer therapies and biologicals also need to be addressed, and approval times for such discoveries need to be improved. Otherwise companies would go to locations in Europe or Australia, he said, where they get a better ecosystem.
Published on September 15, 2026
