A Glance at Pharmaceutical R&D

In India, the pharmaceutical industry seems to be booming and is one of the largest industries in the world today. One very important department in any pharmaceutical firm is the ‘Research and Development’ Department, also knows as the ‘R&D’ Department. Pharmaceutical Companies have slowly been investing more money into the R&D programmes or have formed alliances to tap into these opportunities.

The research and development process is described as the process through which new product ideas are developed, tested, refined, and introduced into the market. The pharma R&D department is present in nearly every big firm, but industries such as pharmaceuticals and other technological industries depend on it a whole lot more.

The research and development process usually consists of basic, applied and development research respectively. If there isn’t the need of immediate use of the research it is classified under basic research. Usually, academic or governmental agencies fund this type of research. Applied research works towards developing a solution to a certain problem or developing something new. Development research, as the name suggests, takes the process from applied research to actually turning it into commercial products that the company can make use of. In the pharmaceutical industry, this phase usually consists of developing the drug itself. This kind of development is most often undertaken by private industries.

R&D is an important driver in order for the pharmaceutical industry to flourish. Governments urge companies to pump in more money into the R&D departments by granting concessions, reducing interest rates for export financing, and also by introducing a cut in the number of drugs under price control. In addition to getting support from the government, pharmaceutical industries are also seen partnering with IT firms in order to indulge in molecule discovery.

While other industries spend between 3% and 5% of its budget on research and development activities, the pharmaceutical industry’s expenditures are much higher. This is because the pharmaceutical industry is highly dependent on R&D for developing new products to keep up with competing firms and to refine existing product lines.

So how does the pharma research and development process work? It starts with an idea or a concept for a new product or to refine an existing product. The first stage involves technicians to investigate the practicality of the idea. This can involve looking at other company’s products, viewing patents, and testing whether the previous data may be relevant or not. Due to the ever changing world of medicine, a lot of useful information tends to get obsolete very soon, which is why data must be revised from time to time and be checked upon. Once the idea is deemed viable, the development process begins. Here, technicians and scientists will create and test prototypes of the process or product using a variety of lab and field tests. In the pharmaceutical field, there are very strict standards on how a drug is developed. Thus, in addition to developing a new product, it is extremely important to keep in mind the environment and hygiene conditions in which it is made.

Pharmaceutical Companies manufactures various types of drugs, pharmaceutical intermediates and also concentrate on pharma r&d.