Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Oct 25, 2007
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Outlook Web Extras - Pharmaceuticals Advinus plans inorganic growth, alliances Madhumathi D.S. Bangalore, Oct. 24 Advinus Therapeutics Ltd, the 14-month-old drug discovery and contract research company promoted by the Tata group, has charted out a growth course that includes R&D acquisitions, strategic alliances and therapeutics portfolio expansion in the coming years. Its Managing Director and co-promoter Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya did not divulge any timeline or investment figures. Since November 2006, Advinus has struck two alliances — with Merck for diabetes and obesity molecules; and with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative for a ‘kala azar’ drug. The Merck offer that came when Advinus was two-months old could reportedly fetch $75 million (around Rs 300 crore) per target molecule. “We will be looking for more collaborations, Indian and overseas, as and when possible. In Bangalore, we are already working with a number of companies,” Dr Barbhaiya, the former R&D chief at Ranbaxy Labs, said. Advinus, formed with an undisclosed majority stake by the Tata group, chose to break free from the generics-active ingredients-sales model common to the pharma industry. It will focus only on discovery and development of NCEs (new chemical entities). Its pursuit is for small therapeutic, licensable molecules to treat diseases like diabetes, obesity, asthma, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis; neglected third-world diseases like kala azar, dengue, TB, leprosy and malaria.
“At a later stage, we may be expanding into areas like oncology and infectious diseases. Neglected diseases are our passion and that is more as a service to society.” Dr Barbhaiya told Business Line that Advinus would like to be the “next TCS” in the pharma space for the Tata group. “We would like to be viewed on the basis of the drug discovery and therapeutic areas we are focussed on; molecules discovered and out licensed, on the milestone payments received; revenues generated and the (R&D) relationships built.” No manufacturing “Those that complement our R&D expertise and have the right intellectual property would be of interest. In India, there are issues of toxicology and large animal facilities — which are very necessary for drug discovery companies. We would explore offshore options in these areas. We also need to have a large-scale API (active pharma ingredient) facility to support long-term toxicology and clinical trials. However, we have no intention at this time to enter into API manufacturing,” he added. For the first four years, till around 2010-2011, contract research services from the development centre, Bangalore, would be the main revenue source. The Bangalore centre with a 265-strong largely scientific team offers custom synthesis, chemistry, formulation development, agro-chemical services; drug stability testing and analysis; drug impact and safety studies to pharma companies looking to outsource these tasks. For the next five or more years, drug discovery from the 80-member Pune centre that was inaugurated in August 2006 would take over, “adding both value and revenues” to the company. More Stories on : Outlook | Pharmaceuticals | Research & Development
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