IT companies log in to help pharma firms cut costs

With global pharma companies leveraging IT to cut costs, Indian technology companies such as TCS, Satyam, Patni and Cognizant are now stepping up presence in life science space.

“Increasing costs of R&D, coupled with low productivity and poor bottom lines, have forced major pharma companies worldwide to outsource part of their data management activities to low-cost countries, thereby saving costs and time in the process,” TCS Vice President and Global Head, Life Sciences and Healthcare ISU, Debashis Ghosh said.

Indian IT companies have been helping life sciences organisations with services ranging from application development, maintenance, testing and upgrade to global roll out and implementation, he added.

 

The country’s largest software exporter TCS earns about 5.3 per cent of its revenue from the life science processes.

According to a research firm Life Science Insights (LSI), worldwide IT spending for the life science sector would reach $38.9 billion by the end of 2008, driven by the need to tackle regulatory burdens and costly clinical trials, and by life sciences companies leveraging IT to enable personalised medicine.