Biotechnology in India is one of the most rapidly growing knowledge-based sectors.

Biotechnology is considered to be a quickly emerging and far-reaching technology. It's a branch of science that plays a major role in the development and growth of India. Biotechnology refers to any technological application that uses biological systems and forms in a governable manner, to not only produce new and useful processes or products but also modify the existing ones. It benefits both mankind and other life forms, such as micro organisms. Besides, biotechnology helps maintain an optimum ecological balance by lowering the amount of hydrocarbons and controlling pollution.
Biotechnology in India is one of the most rapidly growing knowledge-based sectors. Today, it's being increasingly used to design and develop unique, improved varieties of pharmaceutical products, crops, fertilizers, processed foods, a plethora of chemicals, cosmetics, growth enhancers, health care aids, and environment-related substances. The biotech segment in India has been making fast strides on the world platform. India is currently producing and marketing many therapeutic biotech drugs and vaccines. From 2005–2006, the Indian biotech sector recorded an impressive revenue of approximately US$ 1.07 billion and registered a 36.55% growth.
India has diverse biological resources. Biotechnology offers opportunities to convert these resources into employment opportunities and economic wealth. Several factors create an impetus for India to produce excellent capabilities in the domain of biotechnology. These factors include a strong pool of scientists and engineers, a large reservoir of scientific human resources, affordable manufacturing capabilities, numerous medical colleges, educational and training institutes providing diplomas and degrees in biotechnology, a large number of national research laboratories engaging thousands of scientists, fast developing clinical capabilities, and a vibrant drugs and pharmaceutical industry.

Biotech drugs to replace chemical entities Lipitor & Plavix as market leaders

The global order of blockbusters may soon be heading for a major upheaval with Biotechnology drugs toppling the present market leaders, Pfizer’s Lipitor and Sanofi’s Plavix-—both chemical entities.

With the emerging trend of biotechnology drugs cornering the top slots as against chemical entities, domestic pharma companies are now trying to cash in on the $60-billion-plus opportunity. Biotech drugs, also called biologics , are manufactured using live organisms, as against conventional medicines which are based on chemical compositions.

While some companies such as Dr Reddy’s , Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Biocon have fast-tracked their research in biosimilars (off-patent biotech drugs), others like Cipla have tied up with Chinese companies to make a foray in the highly complex but fast-growing segment. Analysts say that by 2014, in the first-ever instance of a biologic drug topping the list, Roche’s Avastin, a monoclonal antibody for treatment of cancer with global sales of nearly $9 billion, will ease out Pfizer’s anti-cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor—the largest selling drug (chemical entity) which nets $12 billion annually at present.

In fact, by 2014 at least six of the 10 top-selling drugs sold globally are tipped to be injectable biotech drugs, mainly for treating cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, compared to five in 2008 and just one in 2000.

Other biologics include blood/plasma products, cultured cells and tissues, gene therapy products, all recombinant proteins, (monoclonal ) antibodies and vaccines.

Anti-cancer antibodies, in particular, look set to become the most valuable therapeutic class, justifying a large proportion of Roche’s move to acquire its US biotech affiliate Genentech. Over the last couple of years, there have been several deals by MNCs to acquire biotech assets to augment their biologics portfolio, like Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth , and the Merck-Schering Plough deal.

Experts say that the growing commercial dominance of biologics globally presents an opportunity for domestic companies. Says Sujay Shetty, India pharma leader, PwC: “Even though domestic companies cannot export to developed markets like the US and UK due to complex regulatory pathways , there is a big addressable opportunity of biotech products for the domestic market. The domestic (biotech ) market, including vaccines is not even a billion now, but is expected to grow to $5 billion by 2020”.

Dr Reddy’s already has three biosimilars in the domestic market, and one of its products, Reditux (biosimilar rituximab) used in the treatment of non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, is among the top 10 brands for the company with annual revenues of over Rs 24 crore. The company is also working on four biosimilars , one of them being in latestage clinical trials.