The Hindu Business Line : Jupiter Bio acquires Merck facility

Jupiter Biosciences Ltd (JBL) has acquired a facility of Merck in Switzerland and forged a five-year agreement for its peptide products with the pharma giant’s Biosciences company.

The acquisition of the CGMP facility of Merck would give JBL a faster entry into the regulated markets in Europe and the US, said Mr Venkat A. Kalavakolanu, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hyderabad-based company.

JBL, which is into developing peptide and chiral intermediates, will get a three to four year start in its efforts to penetrate into the tough, regulated markets by leveraging the existing strengths of Merck in Switzerland, he told Business Line here.

On the contract with Merck Biosciences, Mr Venkat said it would be essentially for the supply of about 140 peptide blocks. He, however, did not divulge neither the size of the contract nor the cost of the acquisition with Merck.

Peptide blocks are finding application in all the therapeutic areas of research. From developing diagnostics to therapeutics to vaccines and stem cell research, the acceptability of peptides has increased in recent years, especially after stabilisation problems have been overcome, Mr Venkat said.

A big advantage of the tie-up with Merck Biosciences would be the international visibility and credibility that JBL can derive in a short time frame, he said.

However, the challenge ahead for JBL was to quickly upgrade its facilities, bring in world class practices in production, purchases to documentation and efficiencies, he added. The company has adequate manpower at present and the production facilities, both in India and in Maryland, US.

Another significant tie-up that JBL has forged recently was with Affinergy, based in North Carolina. “We will supply peptides to them. They will in turn use them in stem cell delivery methods,” Mr Venkat said.

More international firms are approaching the company for tie-ups as well as supply of research peptides. This should be a major growth area for us, he added.

More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions | Pharmaceuticals

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