Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw On Regulation-Innovation Imbalance, Biocon's Weight-Loss Drug Bet

"Regulation in India has not kept pace with innovation. It takes twice or thrice as long to develop novel molecules in India compared to Europe or the U.S.," the Biocon Ltd. founder and chairperson told NDTV Profit, in an exclusive interview.

India has the talent and skills to innovate and develop novel molecules to move up the value chain in pharmaceutical business, she said. But, these developments occur in America where regulation is more conducive, Mazumdar-Shaw said.

"The lab-to-market journey, lab-to-clinic journey is much shorter in Europe and U.S. regulatory systems. In India, we lack the complete understanding of regulatory and clinical science," she said.

"By the time we get the permission for clinical trial, we have lost a year or two. This doesn't bode well for innovation. We need regulatory reforms like the west," Mazumdar-Shaw said.