According to the November 26, 2007 C&EN, Merck has for a second time engaged the Indian firm NPIL to develop cancer drugs for two targets that they have disclosed. Merck will have the option to buy rights to the compounds, providing they successfully get through Phase IIa of clinical trials. The article discloses that Eli Lilly has made a similar agreement.
It is disappointing to see companys like Merck and Lilly outsourcing their R&D. I do not intend to besmirch NPIL. They have obviously crossed a threshold in their own R&D activity that meets the standard of major league pharma. But I do believe that Merck and Lilly deserve some scolding for outsourcing R&D.
R&D is one of the remaining activities for which the US maintains a bit of an edge. It is our magic. To accelerate the development of R&D expertise in India is to act against our self interest as a country. India will eventually develop this capability on their own- why help? Drug discovery is an art that should be jealously guarded by a company. To farm it out to a hard working developing country with lower overhead rates is ultimately foolhardy. Even though some particular art is protected, this activity is always stimulates a company.
Lucky India. They get to exploit advanced technology without having to have paid for 100 years of R&D. Instead of having to pay to develop synthetic chemistry, they can plug and chug with a newly educated populace and access to the literature.
And who paid for the universities and the NIH post-doctoral fellowships and the research assistantships for grad students who developed and published the technology and who became the scientists whom Merck hired? Take a guess.
Investors may reap near term gains and Merck may get a better market foothold in India. Some executives will look like bloody geniuses. The presidents and CEO will prattle on over brunch about bringing home shareholder value. But when R&D goes the way of garment manufacture and automobiles, these “heroes” will be retired to their gated community in Palm Springs. In the end, they have eroded the competitiveness of the USA in an aggressive and contentious market.
Thumbs down to Merck and Lilly.
Lamentations on Chemistry 
Add GSK to the list as well (although your nationalistic argument fails since GSK is British, and will remain so until some Arabs buy it). Actually, they should lead the list. They opened a huge center in Singapore back in ’04. I’m sure that they are others too, Merck and Lilly are mereling keeping up with the Jonese, and the Indians are going to improve their R & D abilities with or without US company support.
But at a higher level, I don’t know that I am that concerned about the transfers. Drug discovery and development is an extremely high stakes poker game (especially in the US given the ultrastrict FDA and sue-happy lawyers – consider Vioxx as a recent example) so the more people who buy lottery tickets, the greater the chances that someone will win, which means we all win (assuming that your health insurance or Medicare D will cover it).
I would imagine that as many people will boycott an Indian-developed drug as PETA advocate are boycotting animal-tested drugs.
US employers are Federally mandated to meet hiring quotas of the Officially Sad. Diversity leaves no place for the able. IIT tests millions, accepts thousands, and outputs uniformly exceptional product: One stop shopping at 1/3 the US domestic price.
Quality minds in America are crushed beginning in pre-school. Rather than foster brilliance we allocate for its suppression. Compassion! Social advocacy! Better that 1000 Morons of Colour get full college scholarships than a single purveyor of inert intelligence be matriculated.
Using butenolactone as Vioxx’ core might not have been all that clever given lysine pendant amino groups in proteins, for starters.
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce