| BUSINESS STRATEGY |
major reason his firm recently set up a new facility in Hyderabad is the low wages for skilled workers. "We can get top-notch chemists, but the cost is much less, says `V` who earned his Ph.D. from Osmania University in Hyderabad. "In contract research, 90% is labor, and labor is one-quarter cheaper in India." Co started the process of opening an Indian arm late last year by hiring away the director of medicinal chemistry at a large Hyderabad-area drug firm. Then Co.`s founder traveled to India to oversee setup of the lab. Already, the new facility employs 13, compared with Co.`s 10 in North Carolina & Co.`s goal is to employ many times that in a few years.
The quality of the chemists in India is equal to that of U.S. chemists and equipment is readily available. The drawback to conducting contract research there is time: Unusual reagents and compounds developed for customers have to be shipped back and forth, a process that can take a week or more, versus just a day from the North Carolina lab
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