NPIL has also entered into an agreement with Biogen Idec of the US for marketing its anti multiple sclerosis drug Avonex and Amevive for psoriasis. The company has also started marketing US-based Gilead Sciences Inc's biotech drug Ambisome.

With intellectual property rights in pharmaceuticals secured, pharmaceutical major, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL), has been able to interest overseas pharmaceutical majors to invest in India. In the past few months, prior to the presidential ordinance on product patents, it had been working on patent holding pharmaceutical firms to enter in an alliance with itself, telling them that India would soon offer product patents.

It got seven leading multinational pharma companies, of which, four are biotech majors to sign in-licensing and technology transfer agreements with.

The company will soon have consolidated its position. It has a technology transfer agreement with Ethypharm of France for paracetamol melt tablets drug delivery technology and drug manufacturing. and an in-licensing agreement with Germany's Gruenthal for marketing Trimadol, a pain management drug in India.

NPIL has also entered into an agreement with Biogen Idec of the US for marketing its anti multiple sclerosis drug Avonex and Amevive for psoriasis. The company has also started marketing US-based Gilead Sciences Inc's biotech drug Ambisome for deep seated fungal infections in India.

NPIL is also marketing the Italian company's Chiesi's lung surfactant drug Curosurf and the French Pierre Fabre's dermo-cosmetic drugs Exomega and Kertyol in India. NPIL has also entered into an in-licensing pact with Genzyme Corporation, USA for marketing Synvisc, a viscose supplement.

"With our collaborations with these MNC drug firms, we have access to a basket of products not licensed to other companies," an NPIL source said

Mumbai-based Elder Pharma and Delhi-based Key Pharma are the two main companies in India, which have adopted in-licensing as their business model for growth.

According to analysts, there are many advantages to the in-licensing model. Unlike drugs that are copied and sold by many competitors, in-licensed products often sell on the basis of a brand name. The import tag not just lends a premium, but also helps companies like Elder to maintain prices unlike generic drugs, for which prices crash once competition rises. For instance, Shelcal's prices have increased over the years while Ranbaxy's ace antibiotic Cifran's prices have dropped.