Pfizer makes big R&D push in India
NEW DELHI: Pfizer Inc. on Wednesday opened a global research centre in Chennai, which will develop and support drugs for the drugmaker’s manufacturing centres worldwide. The facility, located at the IIT Madras Research Park, is Pfizer’s first such centre in Asia, and will employ over 250 scientists and technicians from different specialties.
The Chennai centre will develop active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIS), finished dosage forms (FDFS) such as complex/value-added formulations, controlled-release dosage forms, device-combination products, lyophilized injections, powderfill products, and ready-to-use formulations, Pfizer said. The 61,000 sq ft centre, built at a cost of $20 million, will be part of a network of 12 Pfizer global centres. “We are confident that Pfizer’s drug development centre in the IIT Madras Research Park will allow for synergistic co-development of cutting-edge API and FDF processes under the same roof. The world-class scientific, technology and innovabeing tion-driven Research Park campus provides an ideal setting for our work,” said S. Sridhar, country manager, Pfizer India.
The centre will initially focus on generic products and, later, on oncology, immunology and internal medicine, Sridhar said.
The centre integrates two essential functions under the export-oriented undertaking of Pfizer: pharma sciences (Pharmsci) and global technology and engineering (GT&E) centre of excellence. Pharmsci is dedicated to developing anti-infectives, oncolytics, sterile injectables, anaesthesia and hospital products, while GT&E pioneers next-generation API process and manufacturing technology to supply drugs around the globe.
“There is a growing need for pharma firms to provide innovative solutions that can address new challenges that healthcare providers and patients are facing. This centre by Pfizer is a step in that direction. Such efforts to strengthen and expand global work through this centre will allow for knowledge sharing that we hope will improve patient outcomes in the years to come,” S. Aparna, secretary in department of pharmaceuticals, said.