Hyderabad, Apr 7 (UNI) Several European pharmaceutical companies are keen on shifting their development, sourcing of materials and manufacturing activites to improve their margins, according to Dutch Company PharmaMatch Country head Irfan Vazirally.

''India is one big option for European companies to improve margins in the generic products,'' he said while making a presentation at a seminar organised by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

''India happens to be a competitive production centre for bulk drugs,'' he said adding that many old manufacturing companies in the Netherlands which needed to upgrade their facilities, were eager to shift their production base to India.

Indian development and manufacturing companies which were keen to establish their presence in Europe, had upgraded their facilities to meet international standards, he said.

He said his company's Indian operations were mainly to assist European companies improve margins on generic products by transferring production to India, source pharmaceutical active materials from India to European markets, find Indian partners to develop new products jointly with European companies and find European partners for Indian manufacturers who wished to market their products in the European Union.

UNI SM ROY 1931