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Garma
Garam More
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Agriculture |
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According to papers presented at a recent workshop on gene revolution here, the product market for health biotech alone was expected to reach $ 1.5 billion by 2001. Of this human biotech accounts for 60 per cent of sales, agro biotech and veterinary biotech together accounts for 15 per cent and medical devices, contract R&D and reagents and supplies accounts for the remainder. It was pointed out that although India has a large market for biotech-based products most of these were at present imported. However, some diagnostics, plant tissue culture products and a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine have been developed and marketed locally. According to official statistics presented at the workshop, the Indian biotech industry employs about 10,000 people which is expected to grow to 20,000 by 2001. Of this projection, 50 per cent will be in the research sector, 35 per cent in the technical and service sector and 15 per cent in the management sector. Sensing the immense scope for the commercial technology to emerge as a major money spinning industry in the country, investments in biotech researches and biotech industries by both the government and private sector establishments were growing at a considerably faster pace in the last few years. Refering to the human health biotech scenerio in India, experts said India's diagnostic market totalled approximately $ 50 million of which the lion's share related to monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies for disease immunodiagnosis, tissue typing, clinical assays and researches. Immunology kits for pregnancy detection blood grouping, ameobiasis, typhoid, hepatitis B and malaria had already been developed locally the experts said. Meanwhile, the vaccine market currently totals about $ 100 million and was growing at the rate of 20 per cent annually, it was pointed out. However, the potential market for all types of diarrheal vaccines alone is about US $ 200 million according to estimates. Besides major companies like Smithkline Beecham, Hoechst-Roussel and the Serum Institute which are already active in vaccine business in the country, the latest entrants include Shanta biotech which has for the first time in the country produced and marketed a genetically engineered recombinant vaccine HBsAg. Meanwhile, the centre has of late granted marketing licences to for about 25 recombinant protein therapeutics. The workshop was told that several companies including Wockhardt, Piramal and Dabur were exploring the manufacture of biogenerics and in addition Dabur India was working on a natural substance-based immunomodulator. The Indian pharma market is also stated to be growing at an exponential pace. The estimated value of Indian pharma market in 1997 was three billion dollars and is expected to reach more than $ 9 billion by 2005, the year the Patents Act is to be fully implemented. Yet another area of growth relates to traditional medicine which is used by more than 70 per cent of the population. According to estimates the traditional medicine market is more than $ 700 million. It was stated that an indicator of the increasing value of the alternative medicine business was the growth experienced by the herb-based crude drug exports which has nearly doubled in the past three years. The veterinary biotech or the animal health biotech market is expected to touch US $ 200 million by 2001 with the increasing demand for veterinary vaccines diagnostics therapetics and protein feed. Many multi-nationals have already set up their Indian subsidiaries and a company like Eli Lilly-Ranbaxy will be marketing Monsanto's recombinant bovine growth hormone to increase milk product. Agricultural biotechnology is stated to be an important R&D business in the country which is the world's largest producer of milk and the second largest for fruits and vegetables. Analysts predict that by 2010 India can become the world's largest exporter of agriculture. The genetically engineered seed market in India has an estimated value of $ 250 million while the total seed market has been estimated at $ 500 million with an expected sales of $ 1.5 million by 2001. There are about 50 Indian private seed companies with a total annual sales of 500,000 million dollars. The US multinational biotech company Monsanto which is expanding its Indian subsidiary has joint ventures called Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech India and Monsanto Cargil India, a seed joint venture and will be investing up to $ 100 million in the field of genetically engineered seed production. Monsanto is also planning to launch the country's first genetically engineered crops like corn soyabean and cotton, it was stated at the workshop.
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