Biotech companies in the UK are keen to enter into collaborations with India, especially in the areas of pre-clinical and marketing services.
In this connection six companies Stabilitech, Ionscope, Antoxis, Karus Therapeutics, Oxford BioMedica and Chroma Therapeutics are here in India to scout for opportunities with Indian companies. The companies are part of the BioIndustry Association (BIA) delegation to initiate the first round of talks with Indian life sciences majors.
According to Karen Chandler-Smith, head, business development and membership services, BioIndustry Association, these companies are seriously exploring opportunities for joint ventures and collaborations in the Indian pharma-biotech space.
Currently, India accounts for 44 per cent of the investments and it is second highest after US. The life sciences market comprising medical biotechnology and medical technology and industrial biotech in UK is valued at £ 15 billion. Expertise of companies are in small molecules, therapeutic proteins, advanced therapy medicinal products, antibodies, vaccines and blood-tissue products. The pharma sector has 600 companies with a turnover of £ 16 billion.
India is a much-sought after destination to seek collaborations primarily because of the scientific expertise, largest number of international regulated drug production plants and research centres, said A Scott Johnstone, chief executive officer, Antoxis a start-up enterprise.
The Aberdeen-based biotechnology company, Antoxis is engaged in the design and synthesis of targeted antioxidants for central nervous system(CNS) diseases. In addition it is also focused on the development of new drugs to combat age related diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. It already has three families of compounds which care cell targets with antioxidant capabilities that can cross the blood brain barrier to reduce damage. The company is now on the look out for Indian companies for pre-clinical partnerships of its research medicinal chemistry space, said Johnstone.
There is a huge market opportunity in India and we are looking to ascertain which companies would be the right fit. Although when it comes to biotechnology, only Biocon crops up there are others too like Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Glenmark which are going to have discussions with, stated Johnstone.
Instrumentation start-up Ionscope has developed an advanced high-resolution microscopes referred to as Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy (SICM) which is an outcome of research efforts at the Imperial College UK and Cambridge University.
SICM is a microscopy technique which offers equivalent resolution to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) but with several advantages of particular significance in life science research. It helps to image live cells without destroying or causing any change. It has a resolution of 20 nano metres.
The company which holds several patents for SICM has already inked pact with marketing companies and high-end instrumentation distributors in UK, US and China. It has manufactured 18 products and sold three in US, two each in UK and China. The demand and awareness of the technology has created a market for the novel product which is priced at £ 90,000. We are looking at companies who comprehend the life sciences research space, said Noah Freedman, CEO, Ionscope.
The global economic slow down has led to a serious resources crunch at Universities. Since the economies of India and China are left unscathed by the recession, we are looking these countries to increase our growth prospects going by the potential for research in companies here, added Freedman.
Source: PHARMABIZ.com
Popularity: 5% [?]
