Research is the new buzzword in health. For years, healthcare was dependent on what

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happened abroad. Innovations in the field, including medicine, were handed down from the West. Much of the development in India took place under a protective regime. But with changes in the rules pushed by international trade agreements and amendments to domestic laws in clinical research, the sector is expected to be lucrative.

Fortis Healthcare, India’s leading private hospital chain with a network of 45 facilities, has launched an academic and research unit to administer

what they call ‘evidence-based’ medical care to patients in the country.

“The research conducted at the hospital chain aims to eventually reduce cost of private medical care by shortening hospital stay and reducing the cost of medical solutions,” says CEO of Fortis Healthcare Bhavdeep Singh said.

Starting with cardiology, the company has appointed Fortis Escorts Heart Institute as the site management organisation to provide services for clinical trials in cardiology that will be conducted across the group’s hospitals. The company will also add other streams like oncology, neurology, nephrology, diabetology and orthopaedics as key areas for clinical research. The company aims to enroll over 150 to 200 personnel, including about 45 doctors and 100 to 150 research associates, said Singh.

Executive director and dean of cardiology department at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute Upendra Kaul said: “Clinical Research has always provided access to promising new approaches which allow prevention and early detection of diseases. It is our aim to improve targeted delivery of drugs, devices and improved diagnostics, thus delivering timely care at affordable costs.”

Kaul said among various research projects currently being pursued is trials on stents used in angioplasty for heart patients, which is expected to reduce the cost of such devices by about a half. At present, India imports stents at a price that makes angioplasty treatment highly cost prohibitive. Fortis network hospitals at any given point of time has about 1,000 heart patients under its care. The trials would be completed soon and submitted for regulatory approvals with the Drug Controller General of India.

“Utilising the size and strength of its network hospitals, Fortis will conduct all phases of clinical trials. Fortis has already standardised its research protocols and has a central ethics committee in place for ensuring best results in the shortest possible time,” said Bhavdeep Singh said:

Kaul said that the research centre had already got global projects and was about to conclude one contracted from the National Institute of Health in the US. He said the research unit was also working on a research project with Philips to introduce technology solutions in both detection and prevention of heart ailments.

The clinical research market in India is growing at an annual rate of approximately 100 per cent and remains largely untapped with immense potential. The availability of a varied genetic pool, huge volume of patients and substantial capability makes clinical research in India very cost effective.

According to a FICCI and Ernst & Young (E&Y) survey report of 2008, India may attract between 5 to 10 per cent of global contract research outsourced market – including chemistry, toxicology and clinical research – over the next 5 years.