Pharma company Jubilant Biosys plans to expand India footprint, to foray into new therapeutic areas, says CEO Giuliano Perfetti

Jubilant Biosys, an arm of pharmaceutical company Jubilant Pharmova, is planning to expand its footprint into India considering the ‘China plus one’ trend. The company, which is a Contract Research and Development Organisation (CRDMO), offers comprehensive integrated and functional drug discovery, full spectrum of chemistry, and CDMO solutions to global healthcare companies. 

CROs are designed to ensure speed and innovation while ensuring an efficient cost for companies developing new medicines and drugs in niche markets.

“Currently, we operate in India with sites in Noida, Greater Noida, and Bangalore, and we rely on our sister company's manufacturing sites in Mysore for production of pharmaceutical Intermediates and APIs. We are prepared for the 'China Plus One' trend and have invested in infrastructure and capacity building in India to capitalise on this opportunity,” said Giuliano Perfetti, CEO and Managing Director of Jubilant Biosys to Business Today in an exclusive interview. The interview was conducted on the sidelines of BioAsia, an international business convention promoted by the Government of Telangana.

“We recently expanded our presence to new technological platforms through Centers of Excellence on emerging technologies including Lipid Chemistry,  PROTACs, PHOTACS (photochemically targeted chimaeras), and LYTAC  and we are expanding our collaborations on Integrated drug discovery with large pharma, leveraging our expertise of more than 85 program in last 15 years. 

We are continuously exploring additional therapeutic areas and new modalities that fit well with our expertise and complete our offering,” he said.

Jubliant Biosys’s expertise in drug discovery, consolidated in over 20 years,  lies in MedChem and complex synthetic chemistry, structural and in-vitro/in-vivo biology, ADME and Toxicology, assisting clients from target identification to candidate selection, also adopting our proprietary AI/ ML platform.  

“Our core area is currently in small molecule development,  from drug discovery to manufacturing. This is where we leverage our expertise and provide the most value,” he said.

Apart from the ‘China plus one’ trend, Perfetti also sees other major potential areas of expansion in the Indian market. “India can be positioned as an alternative to China for pharmaceutical manufacturing. For instance JB CRDMO platform can offer, Innovation in Drug Discovery, fast scale up in manufacturing of the intermediate and API and cost-effective manufacturing leading to more affordable medicines for the population. The CDMO segment is growing in India due to the increasing reliance of pharmaceutical companies on qualified third-party partners for production and development,” he said.

“While the Contract Development and Manufacturing (CDMO) segment offers great opportunities, challenges like ensuring high standard in quality systems and EHS, need to be addressed for India to be successful in this area,” he said.

Perfetti said that Jubliant Biosys’s primary focus is on bringing innovation and Speed to its customers.

Perfetti further said that his company’s commitment to innovation is strong. “We will keep investing on the Centers of Excellence strategy and to hire and grow the top talents,” he said.

The company last January announced a further expansion of their DMPK services at the Chemistry Innovation Research Center in India. This center will focus on expanding their discovery chemistry capabilities and offering in the in-vitro ADME services.

“While our majority business comes from non-Indian innovators, we also serve the Indian market. Our primary external markets are the United States, Europe, and Japan. We hope to see more innovators set up in India in the future,” said Perfetti.

The company further aims to expand to other markets as well. “In addition to our existing presence, we are actively looking to expand into European and other markets where we currently don't have a physical presence.

We are constantly engaged on continuous improvements and digital transformation programs to ensure focus on efficiency in R&D and Manufacturing to remain competitive,” he said.