A company's strength lies in its technical competence, sales skills, coverage and warehousing. And the person in charge of these policy decisions is none other than the MD of the company. Coming to Genetix, under the leadership of Arun Prakash, MD, Genetix, the company has achieved new heights. Being in the industry for more than ten years and supplying international quality products is a challenge in itself. Talking to BioSpectrum, Arun Prakash sketched a clear and broad picture of the Indian biotech Industry.

You have completed more than ten years in the Indian biotech industry, how was the experience and how is the picture changing?

Being in this segment has given us a good experience. We were the first and the only company in India, which started warehousing of life sciences products. When we started, in 1991, the biotech industry was like a child, now it has become a youngster but maturity is yet to come. Technically speaking, in the last five years the industry has shown real growth. The industry is growing at rate of 20 to 25 percent, and this growth rate is quite impressive. And by looking at the present scenario, it can be predicted that this growth rate will continue for more years to come.

How is Genetix gearing up to face the changes in the industry? What are the new developments happening in the company?

We have recently set up a full-fledged molecular biology and cell culture laboratory for in-house training, customer demonstration/training and quality control back up. In future this facility will be utilized for running PCR courses for private diagnostic laboratories, develop molecular diagnostic products for infectious diseases and take up contract research. Since molecular biology is catching up with the industry, we have taken this initiative. But in terms of tie-ups, there are some surprises in store for the industry from our banner. As the deals have yet to take the final shape, it is not appropriate to disclose them now. Apart from that, we have to strengthen our focus of providing best available quality with an effective service to our customers.

What challenges lie ahead of your company in achieving the target?

The biggest challenge is the logistics. The high duty charges are also a major hurdle for any customer. Apart from these, the time consumed in delivering the products, storage conditions, exchange, etc. are among our list of hurdles or challenges. The amount of bureaucracy involved in any transaction is also responsible for the slow pace of the industry. India has highest duty charges in the whole Southeast Asian region.

The importance of biotech education is being increasingly recognized. How do you foresee this opportunity from the business point of view?

It is a positive indication that several educational bodies are taking biotech into their syllabus. This will generate the much-needed workforce for the industry in the future, and even in today's context, it leads to a great opportunity. I am talking about the establishment of laboratories at schools and colleges level. But at the same time, it is very critical from student's point of view to opt for biotech during his or her early stages of career.

Though Genetix is supplying the latest western technology and tools into India, how about the awareness level of western trends among the Indian scientific community?

India scientists are well aware of the latest tools and techniques used in biotech applications. But the factor differentiating us from west is that our scientific community does not trust those techniques and tools, which are catching up in the west. We consider only those techniques that are well established in west. This factor pushes us back in the race.

What will be the future of biotech in India? Which areas are going to be affected by the biotech buzz?

The future of pharma industry is going to be influenced by biotech in a big way. The coming years will definitely witness lot of biotech applications in therapeutics and medical diagnosis. The biotech trend is catching up fast in the pharma industry.

What policy amendments are required for the success of the Indian suppliers and why?

The duty structure needs to be looked upon. In my view, the duties should be cut short. This factor is affecting the customer buying power. This results in discouraging the industry in doing high-level R&D. Cost is the biggest factor for any project or research work. And for smooth running of R&D work, the researchers needs to motivated by cutting short the cost factor. The government should seriously think over it and come out with some positive action.

Where does India stands in comparison with other South Asian countries?

It is surprising to know that small countries like Singapore and Malaysia are investing a lot in infrastructure for the biotech research work as per the international standards. Although we have right manpower and opportunity, we are still not in a leading position.

Do the suppliers need a platform to speak up? Is there a forum already existing for the suppliers?

It is unfortunate that there is no forum available for the supplier's community. Whatever forums we have only speak about the big players of the biotech community. These forums will definitely help the supplier community to speak up in front of the government and put across their views.

Coming back to Genetix, which are the major successful tie-ups that you have for the Indian market?

As a part of our business strategy at Genetix, we only bring the world leaders to India. But major companies like Qaigen, JRH BioSciences, Ambion, NUNC, Nalgene, Fermentes, etc. are among the list of eminent partners.