Shantha Bio To Mop Up Funds For Medchal Unit

The Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotech, as part of its expansion plans, is going to raise funds to set up a multi-product factory.

Though a Shantha Biotech official confirmed that the company plans to raise funds overseas in the near future, he did not reveal the amount.

According to sources, the company will be raising around Rs 70 crore. The facility, to be situated in Medchal around 40 km away from Hyderabad, is for the manufacturing of biotechnology products which include the hepatitis B vaccine Shanvac and interferon alpha Shanferon.

In the pipeline are products such as human insulin and streptokinase. The official said the capacity of the facility will be "large" and will be in adherence to international standards. "The company will apply for the US Foods and Drugs Administration approval so as to cater to the regulated markets," he said.

 

The factory is being set up in order to meet domestic and overseas demand for the company's products.

Shantha Biotech has a marketing tie-up with Pfizer India for its hepatitis B vaccine. For interferon alpha Shanferon also Shantha has approached Pfizer for co-marketing. The company is awaiting for Pfizer's replay as the multinational has the first right of refusal.

The company recently opened its research and development centre where it will focus on the development of generic bio-pharmaceuticals. For its current basket of products, it will do research on new drug delivery systems for vaccines such as hepatitis-B in order to get higher efficacy.

Shantha is also keen on exploratory research in novel bio-pharmaceuticals. The company has also taken up in-house as well as collaborative research projects aimed at developing innovative biopharmaceuticals. Some of its collaborative research programmes are with research institutions in India such as the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Anna University, Chennai, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai and International Vaccine Institute, Korea.

Lack of rules hurdle for biotech firms

The main deterrent to the progress of biotechnology in India is the lack of regulatory infrastructure, said Swati Piramal, chief scientific officer, Nicholas Piramal.

She was speaking at a seminar on the business opportunities in biotechnology organised by TechTrendz, a Mumbai-based management company.

"In India today there is no regulatory infrastructure for biotechnology. There are no laws on cloning and even the lack of patent protection is a hindrance," she said adding that India's rich tapestry allowed for tremendous scope in gene-based research.

"Gene on chip" would help tremendously in accelerating diagnosis in rural India. Which will in turn help reduce the rate of mortality and morbidity, she added.

On business opportunities, she emphasised that the wide gene pool made India an ideal market for gene-based research and clinical trials or pharmacogenics. But until a regulatory framework is implemented, it will be difficult.

Nicholas Piramal is currently into genomics research at its research facility called Wellquest in Mumbai. It has a team of 140 scientists which the company plans to increase to 400 in the next three years.

Nicholas also markets 12 biotechnology products which include oncology products. These products contribute around Rs 50 crore to its turnover and is expected to increase 75 per cent every year.

Nicholas is also conducting gene-based research programmes with the Centre for Biotechnology for gene discovery, functional genomics , pharmacogenics and bioinformatics.