Seeding a Skilled Workforce

In drug R&D, there are big challenges today. Big pharma is struggling with a drying up of the pipeline and neglected diseases do not attract much drug development effort. India faces a different challenge not often discussed: it has not yet brought out a single widely used new drug. This is partly due to an inadequate skill set in the country today, and partly to the lack of certain enablers. I have carried out 25 interviews, largely with company scientists, to identify some of the skill set lacunae in the country at present. What can the government do to accelerate the development of the required skill sets? I outline a couple of possible initiatives. I also identify two other crucial enablers that need to be put in place. These strategies should be of interest to several countries facing the same challenge