Drug Industry's Rush to Outsource

India has now become the prime destination for drug companies looking to make a buck overseas with the plethora of brainpower and ability to save millions--maybe billions--of dollars for the company's research.

According to Business Week, "five Western companies have formed drug discovery partnerships with Jubilant, including Eli Lilly, Amgen, and Forest Laboratories. Lilly is also partnering with Piramal, as is Merck. Every month deals are signed with India's elite pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to take promising compounds discovered by the multinationals, run tests to weed out the weakest candidates, and develop some of the others into marketable drugs. Eventually the Indian partners also hope to rack up scientific breakthroughs that lead to entirely new medicines for diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, or diabetes."

So can this work? With American businesses happy to cut jobs in the USA for cheaper labor East; will there be another hit on the American economy? Alternatively, the positive effects of using cheap labor could build up the pharmaceutical industry allowing businesses to save money and, perhaps, expand their Western workforce.

Your thoughts?