While both India and China - both have a billion plus population - present similar pictures in terms of opportunities and growth, a closer look reveals that China has leaped far ahead of India. (Read MNCs bet on China to tide over patent cliff)

Due to the aggressive stance taken by the government in funding research in universities and start-ups, China is today far ahead of India in terms of total growth in education and infrastructure in biotechnology. The country also offers a more precise regulatory structure. 

Even though India does enjoy the benefit of being the largest democracy in the world, the delay and the uncertainty in getting approvals has been cited as the single-most unattractive feature of the Indian regulatory system.

At BioAsia 2012 in February, held in Hyderabad, India, the matter came up for discussions. The event provided an opportunity for a comparison between the biotech industries in the countries and the efforts being made by the government to help them growth.

Mr Kewal Handa, MD, Pfizer India, on the sidelines of the event, said, "The three most obvious reasons for investing in China are that the domestic attractiveness is definitely more in China; competitive price is better; and even though the regulatory mechanism might take time, the procedure is very clear in China. The regulatory guidelines in India are laced with a lot of uncertainty."