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Biotech/Biopharma
than $34 billion today and is expected to touch $40 billion by 2012, with the private sector accounting
for more than 80% of total health care spending in India. The country’s life sciences
sector is in the process of more than doubling, from a $2 billion sector in 2007 to $5 billion in
2010. Of that, biopharma—including vaccines—continues to be the main revenue generator and
makes up about 70% of the biotech industry’s revenue; bioservices and bioinformatics make up
15% and 12% respectively, while bioagro and bioindustrial account for 4% and 2% respectively.
Apart from health care and innovative models of health care delivery, Fernandez sees opportunities
in biopharma in particular. Growth in this sector, she says, is driven both by domestic
consumption and by exports: the domestic pharma market has continued to experience healthy
growth and the demand for generic medicines is on the rise in international markets. Fernandez
also sees India as uniquely positioned in the global vaccines market; it is the world’s largest producer,
accounting for a third of global vaccine sales. Bioagro, though a smaller contributor to the
industry’s revenues, has shown impressive growth.
Dr. Fernandez views portfolio expansion into India as a strategic venture. There has been an
increasing appetite among Bay Area companies to go to India, as the biotech industry there has
moved up in sophistication and as consumer markets are driven by a rising 300 million-plus
middle class with growing incomes and purchasing power. Out-licensing from the U.S. of proven
technologies that can be customized for Indian markets is another area of interest.
Dr. Fernandez describes most of the innovation in India as process innovation and innovation in
business models. Creative innovation still continues to come from Silicon Valley, either from
companies directly or from people that have assimilated Silicon Valley management culture.
“Indian culture still doesn’t tolerate high levels of risk and still needs to work on building sustainability
into their businesses,” she says, “but people coming from the Bay Area are bringing
back with them a more risk-tolerant perspective.” Investment from Indian companies in the
Bay Area through strategic alliances and partnerships is also a strong possibility over time,
particularly among biopharma and medical device companies looking for front-end marketing
and distribution in the U.S.
Evolvence India Life Sciences Fund (EILSF), the first life sciences fund focusing
exclusively on India, has raised $90 million. Its first two investments are in Health Care
Global, an India-wide network of oncology clinics with a hub in Bangalore, and Gland
Pharmaceuticals, a company producing injectable generics in pre-filled syringes for the U.S.,
European, Asian, and Indian markets.
A third EILSF investment was announced in September 2007 in Sutures India, a regional manufacturer
of surgical sutures and India’s second largest producer, with a national distribution network
and exports to more than 50 countries. The investment will enable EILSF to tap directly
into the estimated $250 million market in India, Brazil, and Russia, as well as a global market estimated
at $3–4 billion annually.
Dr. Anula Jayasuriya, the fund’s co-founder and managing director, is also the president of EPPIC,
a Bay Area association of life sciences professionals who share an interest in globalization, with a
particular emphasis on India (see Bay Area Entrepreneurs Flex Their Muscle in Chapter 3).
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