UCB Pharma eyes R&D deals in India

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Mumbai, Nov 9 : Belgium-based pharma major, UCB Pharma, is set to use the cost-effective Indian R&D sector by entering into multiple deals with Indian majors in the coming future.

UCB is learnt to be in various stages of talks with Indian majors to sign outsourcing deals as part of expanding it biopharma portfolio. Global R&D spending is growing between 5-7% annually, while R&D outsourcing grew 15-18% in last couple of years. Global pharma majors such as Eli Lilly (tie-ups with Jubilant Organosys, Piramal Healthcare and Suven Pharmaceuticals in India) and Merck (alliances with Piramal Healthcare, Orchid and Advinus Therapeutics) are using the Indian scenario for reducing the mounting costs of drug discovery.

The Brussels-based UCB, a prominent player in the biopharmaceutical industry with a focus on the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders, has revenues of 3.6 billion euros in 2007. UCB, which invested 788 million euros in R&D expenditure in 2007, had signed a similar deal last year with Alembic to apply Alembic’s novel drug delivery system (NDDS) for its leading epilepsy drug, Keppra (levetiracetam).

Charles-Antoine Janssen, managing director, UCB India Private Ltd, told FE , “We are in various stages of talks with Indian firms as part of entering into multiple out licensing deals for our molecules which are under development. Though there is no specific time span for signing the deals, we plan to enter 4-5 deals within the next six months.”

However, he refused to disclose further details. He was speaking on the sidelines of the Indian-Belgium business forum held on Thursday in Mumbai.

According to a Yes Bank study, growing need to improve the speed and lower the costs of drug development and a growing presence of smaller bio-pharma firms will ensure growth in outsourcing and discovery partnership business. The lesser costs of patients, research scientists and the availability of a large pool of trained technical personnel make India an attractive outsourcing destination for contract discovery research. The Indian contract research industry is expected to be reached around $3 billion by 2015, the study said.