Intas to offload 25% stake to fund expansion

The Ahmedabad-based Intas Biopharmaceuticals (IBL), a group company of Intas Pharmaceuticals, is scouting for partners to dilute its 25 per cent stake in IBL to raise capital for its expansion plans.

Urmish Chudgar, managing director, IBL, said, "We are scouting for partners to raise Rs 60 crore to fund the expansions." It could be any company or financial institution, Urmish added. The company is already in talks with certain potential players.

About the stake dilution, Chudgar, said the company is open to any offer provided it fetches Rs 60 crore. On Thursday , IBL entered into a joint venture (JV) with US-based Progenetics LLC for manufacturing the drugs using the transgenic animals technology which produces the Factor-IX.

Factor-IX protein is used to treat Hemophilia-B. The protein is extracted from the genetically-modified pig milk.

The pig is used as a bio-reactor which is able to give the active protein as the pig's biological system is able to develop and deal with the complexity which is need to produce the Factor- IX protein. As per the JV, IBL will develop the drugs using the transgenic animals technology; and after the clinical trials will launch the product in India and abroad.

The milk will be supplied by Progenetics to IBL to process it to manufacture the drugs.

According to the company, the drugs developed through this technology will be 10 to 15 per cent cheaper compared with the imported drugs. Julian Cooper, CEO, Progenetics, said, "We were looking for a partner to commercialise our product, so we joined hands with Intas." The transgenic animals technology is developed by Progenetics.

It will limit itself up to the production of milk using transgenic animal technology.

While the US market size of the Factor-IX is about $300 million, in India the number of patients undergoing treatment for Hemophilia-B is less. However, as per the global studies, there is a male out of every 30,000 men suffering from Hemophilia-B. Going through this estimation, there might be 1,00,000 patients in India.

Intas Biopharmaceuticals will invest Rs 13 crore to set up a facility for clinical trails. The company may take three to five years to complete its clinical trials using the transgenic animals technology.

There are another nine drugs in the pipeline which the company plans to launch in the future.