Company Watch

Intas partners with Viropro

Our News Bureau - Mumbai

Ahmedabad-based Intas Biopharmaceuticals (IBPL) and Viropro signed an MoU to jointly explore the possibilities of production of an undisclosed molecule. The MoU offers unique collaboration opportunities to both the companies for commercial as well as research interests. With this development, IBPL is looking forward to invest equity in Viropro. "As part of the MoU, Viropro has developed certain proprietary technologies and sole expertise in a unique molecule dedicated towards bio-therapeutic products for which IBPL shall have non-exclusive worldwide rights on the finished products and the API," explained Mani Iyer, Director of IBPL. Both the companies are looking to enter into a contract to complete pre-clinical and clinical development as well as manufacture and commercially distribute the product, based on the MoU. Additionally IBPL and Viropro, desire to evaluate potential areas of collaboration in future for development of new molecules," he added.

Talking about the collaboration, Dr Rustom Mody, Head of Quality and Research of Intas, said that the molecule is a bio-therapeutic product related to oncology and is in its initial stages of R&D. Since the collaboration is yet to be transformed into a full-fledged agreement, the company was unwilling to part with information regarding the equity invested in Viropro or the other projects that the collaboration will be working on. But Intas did reveal certain details about its Strategic Research Initiative (SRI). In order to develop innovative research technologies or new molecules related to biopharmaceuticals, evaluate technology platforms, identify partnership opportunities, in-licensable IPs and to build up NDDS for proteins, IBPL has constituted a dedicated strategic research team. IBPL is planning to generate clones for commercial production of protein using state-of-the-art technologies to improve yields and quality. The company will also adopt novel expression systems (including transgenics) with an objective to build Intellectual Property over the long run.