|
Simbiosys
Bio to set up KPO arm at Bangalore
C
H Unnikrishnan in Mumbai, April 11, 2006 11:21 IST
Simbiosys Biowares Inc,
a Texas-based contract research biotechnology firm,
is setting up a knowledge process outsourcing (KPO)
arm in Bangalore.
The Indian subsidiary, Simbiosys Biowares India, which
is awaiting regulatory clearance as a 100 per cent
export-oriented unit, will house over 40 scientists
at its Bangalore facility.
Simbiosys Biowares India, which apparently is the
first fully-dedicated biotechnology KPO in the country,
would cater mainly to research services in cell biology
as well as a combination of cell biology, software
and electronics, said Debashis Bhattacharya, president
and CEO, Simbiosys Biowares, Inc.
The initial capital investment in the Indian outfit
will be around Rs 5 crore and the operational investment,
depending on the projects, is likely to be “substantial”,
Bhattacharya added. He added Simbiosys’ India operation,
as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simbiosys Biowares,
would only undertake work for the US parent.
As the organisations in both US and India are pure-play
service organisations, focused on delivering services
to pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries, that
require highly sophisticated cell biology expertise.
“We are
putting in place business and technical practices
that are at par with business and technical practices
in US. For example, our standard operating procedures
(SOPs) are being obtained in collaboration with and
advise from US universities, and are being set up
by top-level managers with multiple years of working
experience in US industry and academia. Our business
practices champion transparency, governance, and protection
of intellectual property rights for our clients at
par with the best practices in US industry,” he added.
“Since the Indian KPO arm handles contracts signed
by the US parent, a significant volume of those projects
mainly that of multinational and US-based clients
will be done at the Indian laboratory,” he said.
Bhattacharya said that most technical people at the
new Bangalore lab will, at the very least, be scientists
with a Masters degree, adding, that around one quarter
of the personnel will have PhDs from - US, Europe,
Far East - and work experience abroad.
|
