Outsourcing Drug Work; August 2004; Scientific American Magazine; by Gunjan Sinha; 2 Page(s)

Girish Virkar doesn't sleep much these days. "I've got a lot to do," he laments, as he settles into a 6 A.M. flight from Frankfurt to Milan. His mission: to drum up business for his company and cash in on the latest trend in outsourcing to India - drug research and clinical trials.

Virkar is CEO of the Mumbai-based D&O Clinical Research Organization - a firm that has been manufacturing precursor drug compounds for foreign pharmaceutical companies for more than a decade. Just this year, however, D&O expanded its services to include support for clinical trials, specifically, coordinating the studies and managing data. The expansion is intended to corral more clients as Indias business climate heats up. As part of a World Trade Organization agreement that India signed in 1995, starting next year the country will honor product patents. Pharmaceutical corporations, once fearful of drug pirates, can hardly wait to move in.