Tech Mahindra, BT Group to develop solutions for life sciences industry

IT firm Tech Mahindra has tied-up with British telecom giant BT to work on offering solutions to life sciences firms.

The co-operation between the companies will cover the UK, the US, Western Europe, India and Asia Pacific territories.

Life Sciences customers will benefit from specific Tech Mahindra and BT products and services via joint go-to-market activities, the two companies said in a statement.

The UK telecom major, which held stake in Tech Mahindra, exited the Indian firm in 2012 by selling its residual 9.1 per cent stake in the firm.

The sale of approximately 11.6 million shares fetched BT Rs 1,011 crore.

BT is still a major client for Tech Mahindra though its contribution to the revenues has gradually come down.

As part of the new partnership, Tech Mahindra will become a strategic member of the BT for Life Sciences partner ecosystem.

Initially, this enables both companies to offer proof of concept trials to global pharmaceuticals, contract research organisations, government health organisations, and healthcare providers, the statement said.

According to research firm Ovum, the life sciences industry is forecast to spend $40.8 billion by 2017 on IT in the areas of clinical trials, supply chain, business intelligence and analytics.

Tech Mahindra's Life Sciences practice capabilities will be aligned with the existing BT for Life Sciences services, offering more comprehensive end-to-end solutions for clients, the statement said.

The combination will enable faster in-silico discovery and research, remove IT complexities surrounding gene sequencing programmes and allow more efficient drug manufacturing for clients, it added.

It will also help them derive insight from large health datasets, patient stratification, and adherence to regulatory requirements, it said

"The timing of this relationship is ideal since many global Life Sciences firms are beginning to seriously evaluate cloud solutions for future proofing and cost effectiveness," Tech Mahindra global head, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Dipankar Mitra said.

Tech Mahindra's Life Sciences practice offers solutions for effectively managing the drug discovery, development, manufacturing, marketing and sales processes.

"By combining the BT for Life Sciences solutions with Tech Mahindra's capabilities, we will be able to go to-market more effectively with a secure and compliant cloud service that can enhance the drug discovery and development cycle," BT business development director life dciences, Yury Rozenman said.