Molecular Connections wins in Best SME for Innovation (Small) category

It may be small, but Molecular Connections , which counts many big global pharmaceutical companies among its clients, can easily trump the best in the business with its innovations. Its profits have been growing at a compound rate of 25 per cent over the past five years. Last year, it bought out a minority stake held by Baring Private Equity Partners. "We gave Baring the best returns in the industry," says Jignesh Bhate, CEO, Molecular Connections.

In the pharmaceutical industry, "drug target" is a term for any substance in the body - usually a protein - whose behaviour can be modified by an external drug, leading towards a cure. To discover such targets, scientists have to wade through a lot of research. Molecular Connections provides innovative technology which enables scientists to do so systematically and properly structure the information gleaned as well. The company has also started seeking payment based on successful outcome.

"We have started giving them (the clients) five drug targets at a much lower fee. But if any of these drug targets gets into the clinic phase, we share the upside," says Bhate.

Innovations could help continue the company's growth story in a competitive, but expanding, market. "The informatics market has hit a new point of inflection because of the genomics revolution," says Anand Anand kumar, Managing Director and Chairman of the India operations of Cellworks, a biopharma therapeutic firm, explaining its potential.

"Sequencing the genome means a huge amount of data, which needs specialised processing. There is a new wave that is combining biology, mathematics and IT, like never before."