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New Indian owner to invest in Cambridge biotech enterprise

Written by Tony Quested
Wednesday, 02 April 2008
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad is promising to replicate its class and commitment at its newly-acquired Cambridge hub India’s acquisition-hungry tiger economy is promising to burn brightly for Cambridge’s Life Sciences cluster following a significant takeover. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad is buying US giant Dow Chemical’s Cambridge Science Park business Chirotech and other interests. And insiders have revealed to Business Weekly that the new Indian owner envisages major growth from the Cambridge base in future years. Chirotech’s Science Park operation is the home of the Michigan-headquartered Dowpharma business management and commercial functions including licensing activities. It is also the R & D centre for Dowpharma’s Small Molecule business, focusing on the application of chiral technologies, in particular chemocatalysis and biocatalysis, for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals. The site also works on the development of activated polyethylene glycols which are used to improve the therapeutic efficiency of biopharmaceuticals. Under the new ownership, which brought genuine rejoicing at Chirotech, fruits of the Cambridge team’s research are likely to be taken to an unprecedented global client base with major implications for improved healthcare. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories was established in 1984 in Hyderabad, India, and is a global pharmaceutical company with proven research capabilities. Dr. Reddy’s conducts research in the areas of diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, anti-infectives and inflammation. The company produces finished dosage forms, active pharmaceutical ingredients and biotechnology products which are marketed globally, with focus on India, US, Europe and Russia. Satish Reddy, MD & chief operating officer, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, said: “The proprietary chiral and biocatalysis technology at the Cambridge site and the scale up capability in Dow’s Mirfield, West Yorkshire site will add significant value to the company. “This acquisition will also bring strengths in industrial synthesis of complex prostaglandins and carbohydrate chemistry. These newer capabilities will add to our existing R & D and commercial infrastructure to position Dr. Reddy’s as a leading provider of custom pharmaceutical services globally.” The takeover is due to close on April 30 but no figures for the deal are being released at present. Chirotech currently employs 30 people at the Cambridge Science Park but sources say the intention is for this to grow substantially over time. Dowpharma and Chirotech executives are talking enthusiastically about Dr. Reddy’s expertise and financial clout being ideal to help the Cambridge operation realise maximum potential in a specialist field. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 904 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.