Nils Kan, European sales director, Corning Life Sciences Division

Corning produces one of the most comprehensive lines of scientific laboratory products for life science research. Nils Kan, European sales director, Corning Life Sciences Division, was in India recently. He shared his views about the potential of the Indian subcontinent in this area.

How do you perceive the global and the Indian life sciences industry?
The existing life sciences industry is very healthy. The numbers in the US and Europe show a moderate growth. There is a lot of consolidation happening in the pharma and biotechnology industry.

The Indian continent shows a higher growth rate than the rest of the world. This is very appealing fact. India, over the last couple of years, has evolved as a very solid biotech and pharma market. Initially known for generics, India is now rapidly moving into vaccine manufacturing. I think over the next five years, India is going to be a power to reckon with in the life sciences market. All the signals that we are getting from the scientists and the industry are very positive. India is poised for great things in the biotech market.

China is also an important country in this region due to the sheer magnitude of the size and its work force is another hot spot. However, as far as life science market is concerned, China is trailing India. With time China is going to be another big hub.

Life Science is an important segment for Corning. Why is it so and what is the overall focus?
The guiding philosophy of Corning is to be at the forefront and a market leader in the various sectors it deals with. The life sciences division is one of the divisions of Corning Inc. We are into technology driven manufacturing with revenues well over $3.5 billion. Corning is an industry leader in segments such as optical fibers, liquid crystal display, environmental and of course life sciences products. We have a lot of core competencies. Some of them are process engineering, biochemistry, surface modification, plastic and glass manufacturing. The beauty of Corning is that we can combine technology from our different divisions and create a product.

In the life sciences segment, we have a bright future ahead and are projecting to grow by about three or four times over the next couple of years. Corning is investing heavily in the life sciences division. About 10-11 percent of our revenues are reinvested into research and development. This shows our focus and commitment towards fundamental and applied research.

How did the tie-up between Corning and Axygen happen?
Corning has been present in India in an unstructured manner during the last couple of years. Since India is being regarded as a hot spot in life sciences, we decided to have a more structured and focused approach in the Indian life sciences market. We have been looking for a reliable partner with good market coverage and found that partner in Axygen, which has a good reputation in the market place. All the customers that I have visited are happy about the commercial staff and dealer network of Axygen. And Axygen will promote our cell culture and liquid handling brands.

Rolly Dureha, New Delhi