"Brain drain" reversal boosts India's drug R&D

Scientists are returning to India to work in new R&D facilities, in a reversal of the "brain drain," suggesting that the country's drug industry could develop towards a wider range of operations, including research-based firms, following the successes of the generic sector.

Companies such as Bangalore, India-based Advinus Therapeutics employ former expatriate scientists such as Rashmi Barbhaiya, a former researcher at the New Jersey, USA-headquartered drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb. As with many other industries, Indian firms are developing outsourcing as a vehicle for corporate growth.

Advinus, for example, recently reported a deal worth milestone payments of $74.5 million per target met in a cooperation with US drug major Merck & Co. The latter also announced the closure of R&D facilities in Japan and the UK. Other research-based drugmakers reported to have invested laboratory work to India are the USA's Eli Lilly and Wyeth, as well as the UK's GlaxoSmithKline.