Glaxo keen on more tie-ups

Following its tie-up with Ranbaxy, pharma major GlaxoSmithKline said on Friday it was open to partnership with other Indian companies in the field of drug discovery and development, but it must be allowed to import molecules for research.

"We are looking at other tie-ups. We have a few targets in mind as India offers not only low-cost research but also high quality work," Tachi Yamada, chairman and head (R&D), GlaxoSmithKline, said.

He expressed unhappiness over the "antiquated" laws in India and said GlaoSmithKline-Ranbaxy joint venture was not able to ship chemicals to the country as the regulations did not permit bringing in molecules that were not "patented or published."

Tachi speaking on the sidelines of a Confederation of India Industry hosted pharma conference, said Ranbaxy was looking at ways for getting government permission to bring in the molecules.

Observing that the current state of Indian economy reminded him of Japan in the 50's and 60's when its economy was taking off, he said the company had long term plans in India.

"We cannot ignore India. The country would not remain low cost for a long time as the economy would pick up. But the quality of research, I believe, will be very high," Tachi added.

GSK, he said was interested in outsourcing process chemistry, data management and clinical research from India.

Last year, the British pharma giant and Ranbaxy had collaborated in the discovery and development of new drugs in urology, anti-diabetic, anti-bactierial, asthma and anti-fungal segments.