Just look at the numbers. Currently there are about 5,000 new drugs being tested worldwide and most will fail. And that's driving the clinical-trial market in Asia. Last year, Novo Nordisk enrolled 1,000 patients in phase II and III trials for international drug registration, a figure that is expected to double in 2001, according to Jorgensen. Novo Nordisk conducts trials in India, China, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Companies managing clinical trials also see potential in the region.
And they're having to compete with local start-ups like ProPharma, which has conducted 20 clinical trials since its launch three years ago. ProPharma's Teoh says he doubled his revenues last year and wants to double them again this year. Even private health-care companies are getting in on the game. Singapore's Parkway Group Healthcare, for instance, set up a clinical-trial research centre in Singapore in 1999. It has 12 trials ongoing and expects to start 25 new trials this year.