Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals today announced a joint venture with California-based Bexel Biotechnology Inc for new drug research. The 50:50 joint venture, Bexel Pharmaceuticals Inc, will focus on new drugs for diabetes, obesity and inflammation.
Orchid will pump in $8 million into the new venture over the next three years. This is the first instance of an Indian pharma company investing abroad for drug research, officials of the company claimed.
Orchid Pharmaceuticals managing director, Raghavendra Rao said the joint venture was working on six new molecules, which can be patented, and which it hoped to license out to global pharmaceutical companies in the next two years. The newly formed company has a current valuation of $20 million.
Orchid will invest $2 million in the current fiscal and will follow it up with two tranches of $3 million in the following two years.
