Stempeutics partners with Kemwell for global commercialisation of Stempeucel

Manipal Education and Medical Group firm, Stempeutics Research, on Wednesday said it has entered into an alliance with Kemwell Biopharma for global commercialisation of its stem cell product Stempeucel.

Under the agreement, Kemwell will take a minority stake in Stempeutics and invest up to Rs 95 crore.

The funds will be utilised for achieving key regulatory milestones in the US, Europe and Japan, and for establishing a cGMP cell therapy manufacturing facility at Kemwell's plant in Bengaluru for contract manufacturing of cell therapy products, Stempeutics said in a statement.

"The synergistic combinations of Kemwell and Stempeutics will accelerate the development of novel stem cell-based products for patients and transform India into a global player in stem cell therapeutics," Manipal Education & Medical Group Chairman Ranjan Pai said.

Stempeutics CEO BN Manohar further said "with Kemwell's investments we plan to register for additional indications for Stempeucel, expand into the developed markets, and further develop our pipeline".

"We are happy to partner with Stempeutics because of their strength in developing innovative stem cell products starting from basic research, preclinical studies, large scale manufacturing and conducting multi-centre clinical studies meeting international standards," Kemwell Chairman and CEO Anurag Bagaria said.

Founded in 2006, by Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), Stempeutics had entered into an alliance with Cipla in 2009.