The Hindu Business Line : German genomics major MWG sets shop in Bangalore

THIS could be the beginning of the bio rush into the country. European genomics major MWG Biotech AG has chosen Bangalore as its Asia base and has already gone into production mode at its facility at Bommasandra here.

The Munich-based MWG has set shop within 90 days with an initial investment of 400,000 euros in the facility, Dr Volker Muschalek, Chief Operating Officer and number two at the 43.7-million euro, integrated genomic research services provider, told Business Line.

Its only other facility outside Germany is in North Carolina, in the US. Dr Muschalek is in Bangalore as part of the 15-member German team at the ongoing Bangalore Bio 2004. The German contingent is also the largest country-wise at this year's event.

MWG Biotech Pvt Ltd, the Bangalore outfit, came into being in June with a modern lab and 14 employees to start with. It has started producing oligonucleotides. These are synthetic gene sections that are necessary in therapeutics and diagnostics research undertaken by discovery-led pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

By September this year, MWG also plans to start biochip or micro-array services and high-throughput sequencing research in Bangalore. "The long-term plan is to produce lab instruments in India, perhaps after three years for the domestic as well as Asian markets," Dr Muschalek said.

MWG also plans to invest 1 million euros each in its Bangalore outfit during 2005 and 2006.

According to Dr Muschalek, the big picture is clear: "We want to be the top sequencing address for biotech and pharma companies. We are also interested in outsourcing from India for Asia in areas such as genomic information, synthesis, diagnostics and bioinformatics." In the first year, the Bangalore plant is geared to producing oligonucleotides worth 2.5 million euros and is targeting pharma, biotech companies and academia among its clients. A nation-wide distribution network will be shortly put in place. In Europe, MWG is the leading oligonucleotides supplier and offers customised product and service applications "from genome to gene function." It is also credited with having some of Europe's largest and best sequencing labs, and counts some 20,000 customers in synthesis and 5000 in sequencing.

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