Biocon subsidiary acquires Pfizer's research facility

Indian biotechnology major Biocon on Tuesday said it has acquired a Chennai-based research and development (R&D) facility from Pfizer Healthcare India through its subsidiary Biocon Biologics. The Kiran Mazumdar Shaw-led company, however, did not disclose the financial transaction involved in the deal.

The company has acquired R&D capital assets for a 60,000-square feet research facility at Ticel Bio Park in Chennai, Biocon said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

TICEL Bio Park is a hub for the biotech R&D industry in major domains such as medical biotechnology, nutraceuticals, agricultural biotechnology and bioinformatics and provides world class infrastructure support.

"The high-end integrated R&D facility in Chennai will enable Biocon Biologics to expand its R&D capability and accelerate its journey towards meeting its strategic long-term goal of addressing the needs of millions of patients worldwide," Biocon Biologics CEO Christiane Hamacher said.

Hamacher further stated that this investment will allow the company to fast-forward development of its biosimilars from lab to pilot scale.

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"The facility will house an early stage research and innovation center including a pilot scale R&D unit, well-equipped with cell line development, drug substance process development from bench scale to 400 litre scale bioreactors, drug product formulation laboratories and analytical R&D laboratories,"  the company said in the regulatory filing.

The facility is expected to be operational in a few months post qualification and will house over 250 scientists who will have access to state of the art R&D labs equipped with over 500 high-end process and analytical instrumentation.

Currently, Biocon Biologics has a 200,000 sq. ft of the research & development centre at Biocon Park, Bengaluru, India. The company has a product pipeline of 28 molecules, including 11 with Mylan, few with Sandoz and rest on its own.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar

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