Bangalore-based hot shot
research organization Avestha Gengraine Technologies (Avesthagen) plans to spin
off its research activities into a separate activity in April.
The new company to be
formed with an investment of $7 million (Rs. 32 crore) is most likely to be
named Avesthagen Research Partners or Avesthagen Research Consultancy.
The company will be
incorporated in Bangalore formally in April. It will act as the research
process outsourcing arm of the parent company, which holds highly priced
intellectual property rights (IPRs) in bioagri and biopharma.
“We have already set up
offices or in the process of doing so the new outfit in the United Kingdom,
Copenhagen, Japan and Switzerland, “ Avesthagen founder and CEO Villoo Morawala
Patell told BioSpectrum in an exclusive briefing.
The research outfit will
have some 90 top rated scientists engaged in developing cutting edge IPRs in
the core areas. The research arm is aiming to raise funds to the tune of $7
million. Two big investors have committed half the amount and other investments
too are in the finalizing stage.
Avesthagen started
commercial operation in 2001 and has since spun off two other companies –
Avesthagen Inc, based in San Diego, California and AQUAS (Avesthagen Quality
Agricultural Services), located in the ICRISAT campus, Hyderabad. Avesthagen
Inc is in the final stages of wrapping up $ 9 million (Rs 41 crore) and
concentrates on the development of biotech drugs extracted from natural
compounds, to treat obesity and diabetes. The US arm of Avesthagen is ready
with seven highly effective lead compounds, which have been scientifically
validated and clinically tried out against diabetes. Products are likely to hit
the market in late 2005.
Villoo Morawala Patell
said the agriculture unit, Aquas, will have a seed capital of Rs 1.6 million
(Rs 7.3 crore). The company has started to offer high quality purity testing
and standardization test for exporters of agricultural products and seeds and
is ramping in late 2005.
“We have evolved a unique
model in the biotechnology sector by spinning off specific activities to
provide the best value for investors and also facilitate quick ramp up,
leveraging the highly sought after IPR platforms developed by the company in
recent years,” Morawala Patell said. Avesthagen currently has 41 international
patents and has filed another seven in recent times. Cumulatively the company
will have investments to the tune of $ 22 million (Rs 101 crore) and hopes to
ramp of revenues with the new model in the next few years. The company has been
funded mainly by leading investors like ICICI Ventures, Tata Group, Global
Trust Bank, NMITLI programme of CSIR. A few angel investors too have made
generous investments.