Indian pharma to get London push for funding, marketing

Think London, the official foreign direct investment (FDI) agency for London, is currently negotiating with five medium-sized pharmaceutical companies in India for providing them exposure to private equity and markets for their expansion plans in Europe.

According to Amitabh Arora, chief representative, Think London, "The agency will help Indian companies enter business agreements with 100-odd biotech and pharma companies and about 50 contract research organisations (CROs) based in London besides arranging private equity from London-based PE firms.

This relationship with London-based companies would give Indian players market access for their products in the form of approvals from local regulatory authorities for marketing of their drugs in Europe. He did not give the names of companies with which the agency was is in talks.

Think London, is a non-profit organisation working on a public-private partnership model, which connects companies across the world to London.

It had helped Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma as well as companies such as Arch Pharma and Intas Pharmaceuticals, among others, open offices and introduced them to banks and property consultants in London, Arora said. Over 10,000 Indian-owned businesses with a turnover of $14.4 billion, accounting for 5 per cent of the London's economy, are operating from that city.