THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has held discussions with the heads of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer in New York.

The meeting, attended by senior vice presidents of the company and higher officials of the state government, was held in a hotel where the Loka Kerala Sabha is being held, a CMO statement here said on Saturday.

Initial talks were held regarding the opening of a branch of the company's Chennai-based research centre in Kerala.

The pharma company's officials also sought details of the contributions the southern state can make in the area of pre-clinical research, it said.

The group also discussed the possibility of effectively utilizing Kerala's research knowledge in the areas of biotechnology, bioinformatics, statistics, and applied mathematics, it said.

The state officials, in turn, detailed the achievements of Kerala in the health sector.

The Pfizer officials also shared their interest in working with the state's new Digital Science Park, inaugurated recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As a next step, a delegation of top company officials would visit Kerala by September, the CMO statement added.

Besides the CM, Chief Secretary V P Joy, Rajya Sabha M P John Brittas and other officials took part in the meeting, the statement added.