The Hindu Business Line : IICT licenses cancer patents to US co

In a first of its kind development, the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has successfully licensed five US patents on anti-cancer to Indus Biotech, US, for an upfront payment of Rs 43 lakh and other milestone payments and royalty.

Indus Biotech, promoted by Non-Resident Indians, will also pay $3.50 lakh towards milestone payments and royalty at 3 per cent on net sales. If the sales cross $30 million, the IICT would get a 10 per cent royalty, according to the terms agreed, said Dr J.S. Yadav, Director of IICT.

The IICT has won the best patent award from the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, for the development of anti-cancer agents. Normally, institutes apply and obtain international and domestic patents and keep paying money to protect them annually. This is one of the few cases, where the laboratory under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has been able to sell the patents, he told newspersons on Friday.

Patents filed

During last year, the IICT filed for 113 patents — 29 in India and 84 foreign. It was granted 64 patents — 31 Indian and 33 foreign. The scientists also published 447 papers in prestigious journals, making it the top among the chemical sciences institutes among the chain of 39 CSIR laboratories.

Contributions

Referring to the IICT's contributions to domestic chemical sector and also its collaborations with the industry, Dr Yadav said during 2005-06 the lab earned Rs 25.2 crore from external sources. Of these, Rs 8.54 crore was from non-government agencies, including Rs 4.91 crore from foreign assignments. During the year, the IICT also developed a new chemical entity against ulcers. The broad-spectrum anti-gastric ulcer molecule has been isolated from a well-known Indian medicinal plant with the collaboration of the University of Gulbargha scientists. The totally new molecule has shown effectiveness on par with the known drugs such as Ranitidine and Omeprazole available in the market, against a range of ulcers. The broad-spectrum nature provides it the edge over these drugs, Dr Yadav said.

The molecule is ready for pre-clinical toxicity studies. The IICT is scouting for an industry partner to accelerate its journey to the market. Already, discussions with a few companies have been held. Once, the industry partner is tied up, it should take 2-3 years of trials to bring it to the market, the IICT chief said.

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