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Haseltine, who was recently conferred the 'Genome Valley Excellence Award' at BioAsia 2005, explains that the biotech and pharma sectors have the worst record in productivity among all industries in the world.
"While today we spend 10 times more on drug development than what we did earlier, our productivity levels have gone down by 20 per cent," Haseltine says. "These sectors are facing an issue of low productivity levels and lack of innovation," he adds.
Haseltine was earlier the chief executive officer of Human Genome Sciences, a company that develops products to predict and cure diseases based on the study of human genes.
He is now among the board of directors of OneWorld Health, a non-profit pharma company in the US that uses charity to develop drugs that are distributed in the developing countries at less cost and compensated by the high prices charged in rich countries.
"We are now looking at India as well for manufacture and sale of such drugs," he says.
Haseltine has been doing distinguished work in the field of cancer and AIDS research since more than a decade. "I have made a presentation to the Indian government asking them to allow chemoprevention trials," Haseltine says.
Chemoprevention trials involve research studies with people on the use of natural or synthetic substances that may reduce the risk of a disease like cancer.
"The AIDS virus also cannot be stopped by the immune system of the body. Vaccines, therefore, cannot be of great help and should be replaced by alternatives like chemoprevention trials," he adds.
"Within a year, India will have more number of HIV patients than Africa. The government, therefore, should focus on addressing this issue immediately," Haseltine says.
He, however, believes that India has the potential to fight AIDS because "the drugs that we have been distributing in Africa for AIDS, have active ingredients made in the laboratories in India."
"India has enormous strengths today. It supplies America also with highly educated people," Haseltine says. "We, therefore, are working through the US-India Forum to ensure that there is greater interaction between the Indian and the American scientists," he adds.
"The Indian universities, however, need to integrate various sciences so that a chemist or a physicist has an academic background in biology as well," Haseltine says.
"This apart, issues like inadequate financing and staffing involved in the drug approval process and the restrictive policy on foreign investment, also need to be addressed," he adds.
"The venture capital scenario in India also needs to be developed," Haseltine says. "India has no dearth of wealthy industrialists. After all, one of the world's best venture capitalists, Vinod Khosla, is an Indian," he adds.
"India has, however, taken the right step with the new patent regime. In fact, it has not only opened a business opportunity of $10 billion for India but has also provided a new growth area for patent attorneys. The patent regime has changed the perception of India among people abroad, as a destination for pharmaceutical business," he smiles.
"This apart, India today has a number of not-for-profit hospitals who are doing a commendable job by giving efficient treatment at low cost. I am looking at visiting a few hospitals across India to see if this can be replicated elsewhere in the world as well," Haseltine says.
On his visit to Hyderabad, Haseltine was admitted to the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology for food-poisoning. However, with the cost-effective and efficient treatment that he got, Haseltine says, "I guess this is the best place to fall sick."
