IT-The New Viagra

Times are indeed challenging for the Indian pharma industry. As if increasing
competition from global and domestic players as well as the pressure to enhance
profitability-even as drug price controls continue to exist and costs escalate-were
not enough, the impending onset of the product patent regime, under WTO
regulations, has added to the burden. But the industry has risen to these
challenges. IT has been a key enabler in translating this strategy into reality.

The cumulative IT spending by 12 of India's leading pharma companies,
accounting for 46% of the industry sales, was Rs 121 crore in the year 2003-04.
This, however, translated into IT spendings by most of these players at less
than 1% of their total revenues. Most players spent somewhere in the vicinity of
Rs 5 crore on IT during the year. The trend is that pharma companies in India
view IT as a form of business technology comprising business skills more than
technical. The focus for IT implementation is more on strategic imperatives and
outsource operation.

Most players spent somewhere in the vicinity of Rs 5 crore on IT during the year

There are certain patterns in IT adoption by pharma companies. These patterns
range from functional (stage 1), integrated (stage 2), optimized enterprise
(stage 3) to extended enterprise (stage 4). Stage I companies are characterized
by the presence of various function or department-specific applications in the
overall application portfolio. Data consolidation or communication between
applications may happen as a batch process at regular intervals of time. Stage
II companies are those that have taken an integrated view to addressing their IT
needs through the implementation of an ERP. In addition to having a
well-integrated enterprise application, Stage III companies have also
implemented a comprehensive application to optimize the company's operations.
These applications take an organization-wide view and incorporate rigorous data
analysis techniques-such as predictive modeling, linear programming and
regression analysis, to facilitate informed decision-making. The Stage IV
companies have an IT setup that automates the organization, connects trading
parties, enables them to conduct transactions and conducts rigorous analysis of
captured data to facilitate decision-making across the extended enterprise.

There are various IT solutions available to enable companies to accelerate
the process of drug discovery and drug design. Some MNC pharmas are using
electronic Case Report Forms (CRFs) for clinical trials being conducted in
India. However, these were primarily targeted towards supporting clinical trial
studies originating from their global R&D centers. Domestic pharmaceutical
companies have also started taking tentative steps towards experimenting with IT
solutions in this area. Some leaders have invested or are planning to invest in
electronic data capture (eDC) applications, electronic filing, and ensuring
compliance with 21 CFR 11.

Field force productivity is constantly under the lens. And technology can be
one of the levers. A TCS report indicates that close to 60% of companies had
implemented Sales Force Automation (SFA) applications, while others were either
in the process of implementing or were actively considering alternatives
available in the market. All pharmaceutical companies in India acknowledge the
potential presented by eLearning. Training of medical representatives is clearly
the focus area for eLearning solutions.