Stempeutics scouts for strategic investor

Stempeutics, the Manipal group-owned stem cell research firm, is seeking to rope in a strategic investor who would also be interested in marketing the products being developed by Stempeutics. Stempeutics is 49 per cent owned by pharma major Cipla Limited.

The firm had been debating between private equity and a strategic partner for raising money, given the huge amounts of money required for the development of its stem cell-based products. The firm has so far seen investments of between Rs 150 crore and 200 crore.

It had applied to the Department of Biotechnology under the Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP) funding programme for development of innovative product. “The government has been studying the request for about six months,” said B N Manohar, CEO, Stempeutics Research. Stempeutics had once earlier received Rs 3.5 crore from the DBT for clinical trials of its products.

 

The company, which was set up in January 2006, is yet to see any cash flows given the long gestation periods involved in developing such products. Its product, Stempeucel, is expected to hit the market sometime in 2014 ie about a decade after their development began, after Phase III of its trials the product works.

Stempeutics has facilities in Bangalore and Manipal in India, and in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The company has some 60 scientists working for it, including 40 in India and 20 based in Malaysia.

Stempeutics is now developing a device - Stempeutron - in collaboration with Vignani to address the cosmetic surgery market and plays a role in plastic and reconstructive surgery applications such as soft tissue augmentation, facial restructuring, deformity correction, scar and wrinkle reduction among others.

The company's flagship product Stempeucel, which is expected to hit medical stores as a prescription product in 2014, has completed its preclinical studies and is focusing on eight clinical trials covering the areas of cardiovascular, orthopaedics, respiratory, endocrinology, gastroenterology and neurology, where it believes that Stempeucel can improve the clinical outcomes substantially.