May 26, 2004

The Finance Express

Avesthagen Eyes Biopharma R&D

SUDHIR CHOWDHARY

NEW DELHI:  Bangalore-based biotech firm Avestha Gengraine Technologies (Avesthagen) is planning to set up a 100,000 sq ft facility to develop a new class of biotech products. Initially, the products will be for autoimmune disorders which will subsequently be broadened to include areas such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Avesthagen, which has recently tied up with pharma major Cipla, will also be entering into similar collaborations with other Indian pharmaceutical companies to offer its R&D services. Avesthagen founder and chief executive officer Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell said the first round of products are expected in three years time. “Biopharmaceuticals is the new focus area for us. We are adopting a model followed by big pharma companies in the West to grow in biotechnology by partnering with specialised biotech companies. We expect to form a couple of more alliances with domestic pharmaceutical companies this calendar year.” She added: “Partnering will help Indian pharma companies to make the transition into biotherapeutics while bringing in early revenue and expertise in Avesthagen. The second phase would be to build international partnerships for new molecules and the third phase would be our own products in the pipeline.”

Giving details about the R&D collaboration, she said, while Avesthagen would focus on research and product development and clinical trials, Cipla would engage in scale-up, marketing and distribution.

The research would focus on recombinant products or biogenerics that are already present in the Western markets and the first segment that is being looked into is the autoimmune segment, she said. This would subsequently be extended to the cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer segments, she added.

According to Dr Morawala-Patell, a substantial part of the development work in therapeutics will be at Avesthagen which is well-equipped up to the pilot scale with an investment of $6 million in it. “We have a new 100,000 sq ft facility being planned and are evaluating various options to fund these expansion projects.”

Avesthagen has also announced achievement of significant development milestones in its Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) research project. Recipient of a Rs 2.75 crore ’New Millennium Initiative for Technology Leadership’ (NMITLI) grant from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Avesthagen plans to bring the product to market by 2006. The product is an omega-3 fatty acid essential for the growth and well being of infants, adults and senior citizens.