D. Murali and Kumar Shankar Roy

Chennai: Every time when we gulp down the tablet, we ignore the technique which is behind its making. A tablet with good characteristics is not made on a tablet press as commonly believed; instead it is made in the ‘granulation’ process: a technique mastered by a native of Thirukkovilur. Meet Dr Bindhumadhavan Gururajan, Senior Scientist working to develop products at Anglo-Swedish drug company AstraZeneca’s Research and Development centre at Leicestershire in UK. While today he is recognised as a world expert on granulation, Bindhu (affectionately called) did not overnight succeed in knowing that powdered sugar would be difficult to compress into a tablet and granulated sugar would be easy to compress!

“Based on my experiences and interactions, I can confidently say that there is lot of similarity in what we learn and understand at university and what we do in the R&D laboratory for drug discovery and development process…I think we have trouble keeping the best talent in our country mostly because young people underestimate the prospects and opportunities available in India today,” avers the scientist who is involved in making key products for treating cancer.

In one sense, his words of advice for Indian students may double up as advice for R&D-based pharma companies that are looking to sell potential molecules to global companies to make a quick buck. “Early investment in innovative product development has been behind the success of many of today’s pharmaceutical companies. If Indian pharmaceutical companies make a conscious effort to develop innovative drug products, they will be able to compete globally and establish themselves,” Dr Gururajan told Business Line in an email interview, a by-product of a courtesy visit by him to this newspaper’s premises in January.

To know more about his views on problems grappling science students, the desi pharma industry and healthcare, read on…

Edited excerpts of the interview.

Being in a pharmaceutical research environment, what attracts you to innovation?

Innovation, for me as a Pharmaceutical Scientist, is about producing effective and efficient medicines. I am always looking for new ways to boost efficiency, productivity, quality and speed. And why? Well partly it’s obvious – I want to see patients getting great medicines as soon as possible. But there is another side too. I admit that I enjoy the scientific challenges and the use of state-of-the-art technologies. The puzzles we take on are difficult and important, and these are the kind that appeal most to scientists.

We have all seen the transformation of the Indian society in the last 10 years or so, where as a society, we have become more service-oriented. Are we still patient enough to wait for the fruits of innovation?

The Indian pharmaceutical sector has mostly been driven by the manufacture of generic products and as contract research organisations. It is only recently that a few of the leading local companies have started developing innovative products. It is clear that the major R&D investments being made by global pharmaceutical companies in India will lead to a surge in innovative products. In addition, improvements in manufacturing standards, product quality and R&D activities for discovering first in class and best in class molecules will change the image of Indian pharmaceutical industry in the years to come.

Global pharmaceutical companies are all coming down to the labs of Indian companies for discovering the next blockbuster drug. But Indian students are increasingly finding their way outside their country…

Most of the leading pharmaceutical companies are struggling with high manufacturing costs and a shortage of skilled people in the West. Therefore, they are investing in India and China to take advantage of the manpower availability and the cost benefits. With the right skills and training, our students have the potential to work for leading pharmaceutical companies and contribute to the discovery and development of the next blockbuster drug within India. The disconnect that you see among Indian students may be due to a lack of clarity regarding careers, growth prospects and opportunities available to them when they graduate.

One way to connect will be to increase the interaction between academia and industry to provide opportunities for young aspirants to learn more about the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

Students often complain that there is a detachment between what they learn at university classes and what they get to practise at their work place. How far is this true in the case of drug discovery business?

For drug discovery and development, students need to be educated to an appropriate level. The course work and practical training I received during my university education are very similar to some of our day-to-day research work. In the UK, there is more synergy between universities and industrial research. From our department, we support quite a few Master’s and PhD research projects to take advantage of new talents and facilities.

Based on my experiences and interactions, I can confidently say that there is lot of similarity between what we learn and understand at university and what we do in the R&D laboratory for drug discovery and development process. Apart from the knowledge gained from education, generic skills and capabilities like communication skills, creative thinking, developed during the student life can have significant impact on performance.

Why don’t we seem to retain the best talent in our country, while other countries seem to get the best of them?

I think we have trouble keeping the best talent in our country mostly because young people underestimate the prospects and opportunities available in India today. They are actually excellent, and moreover we are increasingly finding that good money can be earned here too. This trend is changing as our key industrial sectors have started growing rapidly; people have started moving to India in search of better opportunity and growth prospects.

In the next decade we may see a major economic change globally; India may start attracting the best talent from other countries to meet the demand and economic growth.

Today the best and commercially the most successful drugs come from outside Asia. In the next few years, a lot of them will lose patent protection. Do you see Asia, especially India, being transformed into a hub for innovation in the next 10 years?

Early investment in innovative product development has been behind the success of many of today’s pharmaceutical companies. If Indian pharmaceutical companies make a conscious effort to develop innovative drug products, they will be able to compete globally and establish themselves. By taking advantage of current climate and investing in innovation, they can benefit from both generic and innovative product portfolios.

Tell us about your work with students, both in the UK and in India. Do you see a conflict between science and values? How do you think science learning can be popularised?

I have promoted science education in India by meeting with students in schools and universities in the Chennai area. I make this a priority during my visits.

In the UK, I promote science and engineering education to aspiring students with the support of the Science and Engineering Ambassador Initiative run by the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network (www.stemnet.org.uk). This scheme helps to motivate young students to study science by helping them to meet and be inspired by practising scientists.

Science on its own is neither constructive nor destructive. Values of those who apply it decide the impact of science on society. So it is important to promote moral values, right knowledge and discipline among our young minds to help them appreciate the quality of using science for the right reasons.

Your suggestions on how we can make healthcare and wellness monitoring widespread and affordable.

Our elders rightly said, “Prevention is better than cure”. Most disease is spread because of unhygienic living standards and poor access to basic amenities. It is important for us to address this need, and thus help people live healthy lives.

At the minimum level, every citizen should have access to at least 1000 – 1200 calories of food (maybe a pack of rice, wheat, vegetables and milk) every day to avoid malnutrition.

Every citizen should have easy access to regular health checks to identify problems at an early stage. Basic test kits such as blood pressure meters, thermometers, sugar level monitors should be provided at affordable cost for self-examination.

On corporate responsibility principles that are worthy of adoption by Indian companies.

From my experience in AstraZeneca, two of the corporate responsibility principles that are worthy of adoption by Indian companies are: ‘Thinking About Tomorrow Today’ and ‘Contribution to science education’.

‘Thinking About Tomorrow Today’ is a sustainable programme that raises employee awareness of the impact their activities have on the environment and measures they can personally take to minimise the effects. This approach can reduce energy consumption and waste, thus reducing environmental impact.

Erosion of the science base is an important issue for R&D. AstraZeneca R&D has forecast potential shortages in technically-skilled people in chemistry, in vivo sciences (including toxicology and pathology) clinical research, mathematics, statistics and engineering. We have to look into this issue in more detail and liaise with academia in order to develop a more joined up approach.

Lastly, today apart from information technology there is hardly any field which can be called a potential job spinner for science graduates and above. Engineers have been known to familiarise themselves with IT to get the cushy and well paying job. Is there a lurking danger behind it all?

The boom in the Indian IT industry is remarkable. In the last decade IT has been able to recruit the brightest talent from premier institutes in India, regardless of the student’s qualification. As a result we have lost some potential entrepreneurs and science leaders to cushy and well paying IT jobs.

In the Western world, especially the UK and the US, IT is not the major job spinner for science graduates as it appears in India. Taking a wider perspective, it is high time that engineers and science graduates start working to help India improve energy production, pollution control, and develop the health sector. To become a fully developed country we need the next generation to focus on sectors like healthcare, renewable energy, transport, bio and nano technology, mining and minerals, agricultural science, defence and environmental engineering.