Orchid Blooms On Us Venture Report

Shares of Orchid Chem-icals surged in a lacklustre market today, following reports that the company is setting up a joint venture in the US for undertaking new drug discovery and development. The stock of the Chennai-based pharma major was up 6.69 per cent to Rs 86.95 on the BSE, with a combined volume of over 4.35 lakh shares on the BSE and NSE.

In the afternoon, there were reports that Orchid Chemicals has established a joint venture with Bexel Biotechnology Inc of the US. The joint venture firm Bexel Pharmaceuticals Inc, located in California, will undertake new drug discovery and development.

Orchid would invest $8 million in the equity share capital and provide $2 million of services from its in-house drug discovery infrastructure, aggregating to $10 million, over a three-year period in this 50:50 joint venture. Bexel Biotechnology Inc