BioSuppliers - A niche opportunity

In the fiscal year 2002-03 the Indian biotech industry grew to Rs 2,300 crore. With this significant growth in the biotech industry, the BioSuppliers market has also opened up. The total size of this segment is Rs 475 crore and there are about 25-40 key companies supplying biotech products to India. The sector is seeing a lot of activity and is abounding with opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds.

"The potential for BioSuppliers is increasing and the growth rate expected is around 13 to 15 percent. This is directly related with the biotech R&D and products for which equipment are required. The field calls for hi-tech, hygienic standard equipment for the industry. The opportunities will increase slowly by 5 to 7 percent and by 2005 the rate will be substantially high," said MT Rananaware, DGM-Life Science, Alfa Laval (India) Ltd.

"The segment is growing at over 40 percent and the opportunities are very good" remarked Arun Prakash, CEO, Genetix Biotech Asia. "This sector offers good growing opportunity for graduates/post graduates with bio or chemical engineering background with a couple of years of experience in a lab or industry. The trend is towards higher educational qualification in addition to basic sales and marketing skills," said senior managers from Amersham Biosciences

Many major companies like Agilent, Alfa Laval, Amersham Biosciences, BioRad, Cambrex Chemicals, Kendro, Millipore, Sartorius, Thermo Electron, Waters India and others have set up their subsidiaries in India and are supplying equipment on a large scale to the Indian biotech industry. Besides, there are Indian companies like Ace Instruments, Andel Equipment, Bangalore Genei, Biotech India, Genetix Biotech Asia, Life Technologies, Pharmalab, Praj Industries, Span Diagnostics and Toshniwal Instruments, which are manufacturing/supplying key equipment, consumables, etc., to the biotech sector.

Depending on whether the company is dealing in generic or high-tech products, equipment, consumables, disposables, etc., the profile of required candidates may vary from company to company. As Dr P Babu, CEO Bangalore Genei, aptly puts it, "BioSuppliers could be both trading companies and manufacturers. Further biosuppliers could be based on the nature of equipment/instruments or reagents, enzymes etc., so it is difficult to group all the biosuppliers together. The segment is more niche unlike biopharma/bioagri."

If the company is primarily into manufacturing, like Alfa Laval, which is one of the leading manufacturers of engineering equipment and supplier of complete plants, then the main job functions will be pre engineering of the processes and products, preparing specifications and drawings, procurement and execution of projects with documentation. Accordingly, the company will look out for chemical/biotech engineers. Similarly if the core competency of the organization is making reagents, diagnostic kits, enzymes, etc., then it will require candidates possessing post graduation or doctorate degree in biochemistry, biotechnology, microbiology or related life science fields. And if the company is a distributor of biotech products then it will require candidates having sound technical knowledge about the products along with strong sales and marketing background.

Cambrex Chemicals, a 100 percent subsidiary of the US based Cambrex Corp., assists the biotech industry in maintaining its product quality and also supplies ingredients used by the research institutions to develop new products. "The job categories are business managers, technical service managers, etc. We require graduates with a basic biological background and any additional qualifications would add value. The candidates should possess integrity, team-playing capability and the ability to work independently," said Vivek Varma, business manager, biotherapeutics, Cambrex Chemicals.

"At Genetix the job categories are business development executives, product specialist and customer care representatives," said Arun Prakash of Genetix. The company offers marketing and technical support to biotech and life sciences companies. "The qualifications required are MSc (for business development executives), PhD for product specialist (males/ females), graduates with computer skills for customer care representatives (females)," he added.

In Amersham Biosciences, which is a leading global provider of biotech systems, products and services used in gene and protein research, drug discovery, development and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, the different levels of jobs throughout the organization range from product specialists, area manager, product manager, sales manager, application specialists, service engineers and service managers. "We have defined key responsibilities and accountability for each position/functions. For example, a sales person or product specialist would assist in product management, key account management and be responsible for conducting seminars and demonstrations to customer. Good communication skills, teamwork, self-motivation, perseverance, technical skills and a positive attitude are a few things we look for in a candidate. Candidates with exposure to the western scientific arena are also welcomed," said senior managers from Amersham.

"In general, we look for candidates with a MSc or PhD degree in bio-related fields like molecular biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, etc. A couple of years of either sales experience with a similar company or a couple of years of research experience in a lab or industry is a requirement. Specialization is a particular area is a definite plus. Being a technology-intensive company, a couple of years of either research or sales experience is a must," they added. "As the range of products one deals with is enormous especially reagents and chemicals, a person needs a good bio background to understand this. Our company believes in not just selling a product but in helping the customer complete his entire research process successfully using our products. Therefore, it is essential for the employee to have a scientific mind and a good rapport with the customer." Amersham presently has 50 employees all over India, about 20 percent of its workforce comprise of women and their number is gradually increasing.

Wipro Health Science is one of the top service providers, offering both IT solutions and supplying equipment to the biotech industry. According to Wipro officials, "at present the job categories are consultants, solution architects and software engineers and also biochemists in the future. The job functions are conceptualizing, designing and delivering solutions to research laboratories in industry and academia. Wipro is also setting up a reagent kitting setup to deliver reagents for its hardware solutions at a better price".

"The procedure for selection is recruitment either through manpower consultants (for more senior roles) or walk-in interviews (for junior roles). The qualifications required is laboratory background with masters or greater for consultants and BE+ for software delivery. We look for technical skills, customer focus and ability to envision solutions. Additionally, there are internal Wipro criteria for each hired person. Better communication skills and an ability to listen and comprehend what is being said clearly can give a definite selection edge, " they added. "Although internally there is a full-fledged training process and training courses on both technical as well as soft skills but it helps if the candidate has prior laboratory expertise and experience." Wipro is not currently recruiting but sees considerable scope in the next year.

sInviting resumes through advertisements, screening and short-listing of the candidates, and then interviews is the general norm practiced by most companies. "Procedure followed for manpower selection is interviews and written test followed by personal interaction with the candidates to check his IQ level and expectation," said MT Rananaware of Alfa Laval. "The key characteristics we look for are process knowledge, engineering knowledge, innovative ideas, time bound actions, result orientation and decisive power," he added. In any company sound scientific skills, good subject knowledge, creative thinking and a confident attitude with good communication skills are the key attributes, which facilitate selection. Prior experience and training is desirable but not pre requisite criteria in most companies.

Many organizations dealing in specialized products generally provide in-house specialized training from time to time. Genetix provides short-term in-house and overseas training programs to improve job competency. "A higher qualification in biological sciences can provide an edge in the selection process. As the products are technical in nature and require continuous upgradation, so training programs are conducted from time to time," remarked Vivek Varma of Cambrex Chemicals.

The growth potential for employees is excellent. Plenty of opportunity is available for growth within India and internationally too. "We are around 700 employees, for bio process department we are 13 and expected to grow to 20 by year end 2004. Depending on our growth of business, we may plan to recruit next
year," said MT Rana-naware. "The opportunity in the BioSuppliers segment is growing and in a manufacturing company like ours, there is a huge growth potential," commented Dr Babu of Bangalore Genei. "The person can become the head of his/her respective department along with improvement in job competence and personality development through good working environment and training programs," said Arun Prakash of Genetix. Vivek Varma of Cambrex Chemicals also made a similar comment, "candidates can head the unit as a business manager." Many companies like Genetix, Amersham and Cambrex Chemicals plan to increase their workforce in the near future.

Rolly Dureha