Suven, US firm to develop cardiovascular drugs

Hyderabad-based drug developer Suven Life Sciences will soon sign a formal agreement with a top US-based pharma company to jointly develop new drugs for cardiovascular diseases. As part of this, Suven will soon expand its drug development centre to accommodate about 500 scientists.

The company already has a drug discovery alliance with another US-based drug company, Eli Lilly.

"We are in talks with an MNC for drug development in the area of cardiovascular diseases and hope to sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) within a few months. We are, now, not in a position to disclose the identity of the partner," said Venkat Jasti, chairman and managing director.

The two firms would develop drugs from the pre-clinical stage, including drug discovery, screening, identification and optimisation of potential clinical candidates.

Suven will expand its drugs discovery centre in Hyderabad with an investment of $25 million. Currently, the centre employs about 150 scientists. With the new drug discovery deal in place, the total strength will be increased to 500. The infrastructure would be in place within two years, he said.

Apart from this, Suven is likely to expand its drug discovery alliance with Ei Lilly for target discovery of more molecules in various therapeutic areas. Currently, Suven and Eli Lilly are working to develop drugs targeted for central nervous disorder (CNS) drugs.

Suven is one among the few drug discovery companies in India to rope in alliances with big pharma companies for joint drug research.

Suven has a rich pipeline of drugs under development for CNS disorders like Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and depression and other neourological disorders.

The other major deals in this space include Ranabaxy-GSK alliance to develop drugs for infections, metabolic and respiratory diseases and cancer, Biocon's tie up with Bristol-Myers Squibb for various disease areas, Advinus and Merck's collaboration to develop drugs for metabolic disorders, Nicholas Piramal-Eli Lilly programme to develop drugs for metabolic disorders and GVK Biosciences alliance with Eli Lilly to provide basic drug research services.

Its first Investigational New Drug (IND), SUVN-502 for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, is currently undergoing the first phase of clinical trials in India.