Hyderabad, February 24: India and China will take Asia to the top positions in bio-technology sector (BT) and ensure that the continent’s present contribution of 21.6 per cent in the global BT space is doubled in the next 10 years, said speakers at Bio-Asia, 2011, here on Tuesday.
Having emerged unscathed from the global financial crisis, the Asian biotech economy maintained a healthy growth, driven by a focus on research and innovation, said Mahadevan Narayanamoni, national leader, Healthcare and Life Sciences Advisory, Grant Thornton India.
Grant Thornton is a leading independently-owned and managed accounting and consultancy firm instrumental in the presentation of a white paper titled, ‘The Asian Promise – Key trends and alliances in biotechnology during 2010′. Mr. Mahadevan said that India’s contribution was 3 per cent and China accounted for 17 per cent of the continent’s share in the global BT space. In 2010, India had 19 deals of mergers and acquisitions to the tune of US $ 230 million.
Merger deals
In the biggest merger deal in the biotech space in Asia last year, Japan’s Astellas Pharma bagged OSI Pharmaceuticals, USA, for $ 4 billion in June 2010, followed by acquisition of Wuxi Pharmatech, China by Charles River Laboratories for $ 1.6 billion and the buying-out of Metahelix by Rallis of India for $ 46 million, the white paper said.
Emerging centre
“Once considered the exclusive domain of the US and Europe, Asia has now emerged as a centre for research and development activities and is now a strategic partner of choice in the biotechnology space. The biotech industry in the West, which was the worst hit by the financial crisis, underwent drastic restructuring, curtailing new investments, thereby providing a cost competitive edge to Asia,” Mr. Mahadevan said.
$3 billion
K. Srinivasa Rao, chairperson of a technical session on ‘Bio-Technology in Asia – Sketch and Strengths’, said the Indian biotech industry reached a size of $ 3 billion last year, helped by a 23 per cent growth, while the Chinese market touched $ 9 million (CAGR 17 pc).
-Agencies