Shasun promoter to take 11% in top US biotech firm

LifeCell, one of the leading stem cell research and therapeutic companies in India , set up by the promoter of Shasun Chemicals & Drugs, will pick up an 11 per cent stake in the leading US biopharma research company, Saneron CCELL Therapeutics Inc.

This is being done through a swap deal. LifeCell recently floated an outfit, Saneron India, in which Saneron CCELL holds a 20 per cent stake. However, the US company has not brought any funds to pick up the stake. Instead, it is offering an 11 per cent stake to LifeCell.

"Saneron CCELL will invest in research and development. Besides, it will also bring in the technology," said Abhay Kumar, promoter of Shasun Chemicals and vice-chairman of LifeCell.

This is the first instance of an Indian company engaged in stem cell-based therapeutic research picking up a significant stake in a global company.

Saneron CCEL is an established player in the area of readily available cellular therapies and has patented technology relating to umbilical cord blood and sertoli cells. It has about 100 patents in its fold.

Florida-based stem cell research and therapy company Saneron CCEL Therapeutics is one of the top biotechnology R&D companies in the US.

The company focuses on neurological and cardiac cell therapy for the early intervention and treatment of several deadly diseases which lack adequate treatment options.