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uilding a strong clinical developmentinfrastructure. International CROs havealready recognised this opportunity and haveset up operations in anticipation of policychanges that will enable clinical trials to becarried out in India on equivalent lines ofthose conducted elsewhere. The ‘IndiaAdvantage’ in clinical development is clearlythe speed of patient enrolment and therebyshorter time lines for clinical trials. Apartfrom Phase 1-4 clinical trials, Indiancompanies have a large commercialopportunity in pre-clinical trials, Indiancompanies have a large commercialopportunity in pre-clinical and ‘proof ofconcept’ studies.There thus exists an exciting opportunity forbiotech companies in the U.S. and Europeto forward-integrate their drug developmentprogrammes at lower cost and shorter timelines in India which would provide them witha lower cost validation option over trialsconducted in the more expensive researchenvirons of the west. Alternatively, themonetary risk could be shared with an Indianpartner who is keenly seeking to backwardSECTION - 5integrate into research and discovery. Suchbio-partnering opportunities need to beencouraged strongly by the venturecapitalists as a de-risking strategy.The biotechnology sector is alreadyshowcasing India’s potential to attainingleadership in vaccine production, geneticallymodified crops and clinical development.Global success for Indian biotechnology willlargely depend on creating the lowest costbase for innovation.It is therefore imperative to evolve fiscal andregulatory policies that support capitalintensiveresearch and manufacturing, longgestation time for product commercialisationand investments in patenting and technologylicensing.A strong patenting regime, regulatoryreforms that permit Phase I clinical trials andpragmatic fiscal support to research anddevelopment will enable India to realise itsglobal aspirations for biotechnology.(The Hindu)INDIAN NURSES; NEED IN THE WESTBefore 2008, some 4.5 Indian nurses will be needed in America alone.Britain, Canada, and Australia also need nurses.A number of nursing schools have come up in India recently. Bighospitals have started their own training institutes in India.The shortage of nurses has been a problem in the US for the past 15years. The new found enthusiasm among American youth for accountingand management jobs has pushed the demands for nurses up.70 lakh tonne of groundnut was produced by Gujarat in 2003.SAMARTHA BHARATA260