Panacea Biotec takes 14% stake in US biodefense company

Panacea Biotec Ltd has entered into a strategic alliance with PharmAthene Inc, Annapolis, MD, US, a biodefense company developing medical countermeasures against biological and chemical threats. The alliance includes a strategic equity investment of 14.5 percent of PharmAthene's issued and outstanding common stock and warrant by Panacea through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Kelisia Holdings Ltd.

Under the financing arrangement, Panacea Biotec's subsidiary has agreed to purchase approximately 3.73 million shares of PharmAthene common stock at a negotiated price of $3.50 per share. Upon the closing, Panacea Biotec's subsidiary will also receive 12-month warrants to purchase up to approximately 2.75 million additional shares of PharmAthene common stock at an exercise price of $5.10 per share.

Under a related agreement, PharmAthene has the first right of negotiation for US distribution of certain of Panacea Biotec's biodefense products and may enter into discussions with Panacea Biotec regarding potential strategic collaborations that could include development and manufacturing by Panacea Biotec of certain PharmAthene biodefense products. The investment will increase PharmAthene's ongoing product development activities, enhance working capital, and provide new resources for corporate growth.

"An alliance with PharmAthene presents important strategic opportunities to create value for both of our companies," said Rajesh Jain, JMD, Panacea Biotec.

GangaGen gets $1.8m from ATEL Ventures

Bangalore, Canada and US-based biotechnology company GangaGen Inc has raised $1.8 million in second round of funding from ATEL Ventures, a San Francisco based venture fund. GangaGen is developing bacteriophage-based remedies for some of the bacterial infections, particularly the infections that are resistant to antibiotics. GangaGen has two subsidiaries viz. GangaGen Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd, Bangalore (India) and GangaGen Life Sciences Inc, Ottawa (Canada). GangaGen is a biopharmaceutical research & development company focused on the development of novel therapies against antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection, for medical, veterinary, agricultural and environmental applications. It also has several patents in its area of R&D. It has operations in Canada and US.

Formed in 2000 by J Ramachandran, GangaGen has earlier raised $2 million from angel investors and $5 million from ICF Ventures. In a release, the company said that the funding will be used to support the growth of GangaGen's product lines that are aimed at treating antibiotic-resistant infections.

"The rise of super bugs and the need for antibiotic alternatives make this an excellent opportunity," said Steve Rea, executive vice president at ATEL Ventures, a division of ATEL Capital Group. "We are confident that we will soon be seeing GangaGen's innovative approach revolutionize the treatment of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA),"he added.

Bharat Biotech bags Orissa "Biotech Pharma IT Park" Project

The Orissa Government has selected Bharat Biotech International as the developer for its first Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) "Biotech Pharma IT" project in the state. The park to be located at Mouza-Andharua, Bhubaneswar, is estimated to cost about Rs100 crore and it is slated to be completed in eight years.

The Orissa government has allocated 54.86 acres of land to Bharat Biotech towards the development of an integrated industrial park to attract and promote pharmaceutical, biotechnology and information technology industries in Bhubaneswar in the Private Public Partnership mode. The Park is the first of its kind in Orissa envisages promotion of biotech, pharmaceuticals and IT industries in the State.

Making the announcement Dr Krishna Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech International, said "We are delighted that the Orissa Government has acknowledged our competence and awarded this prestigious project to BBIL. Our task is to focus on rapid development of this park by developing core infrastructure and technology to enable establishment of new companies whereby new local entrepreneurs in the biotechnology field will be created."

Bharat Biotech will form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to develop the BT-Pharma-IT Park at Andharua. The SPV will execute the lease cum development agreement of the Bharat Biotech with Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). The State Government of Orissa and IDCO have agreed to provide all external infrastructure facilities, such as road connectivity, water supply, power supply with 33 KVA sub-station etc to facilitate rapid development of internal infrastructure

UK-based Green Biologics to set up biobutanol plant in India

Green Biologics and Mumbai-based Laxmi Organic Industries have signed an agreement to build a commercial-scale biobutanol plant in India. The demonstrator plant is expected to produce 1,000 metric tons of butanol a year starting in 2010. Green Biologics said it's now looking to raise 3$6.33 million to roll out its renewable chemicals technology, which uses fermentation to produce biochemicals from waste and by-product feedstocks.

Oxfordshire, England-based Green Biologics said the biobutanol plant will run on molasses produced by the Indian sugarcane industry, which has been ramping production to meet demand for renewable energy.

Bharat Renewable energy to set up $480 million biodiesel plant

Mumbai-based Bharat Renewable Energy, plans to spend Rs 2,200 crore (USD 480 million) to grow more than a million acres of jatropha on Indian wasteland in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Bharat Renewable Energy is a joint venture of state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum, jatropha-cultivator Nandan Biomatrix and construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji. Bharat Renewable Energy was created in June to make biofuels from crops, such as jatropha and pongamia pinnata, an Indian birch.

The venture has a goal of producing a million metric tons of biodiesel from the jatropha plantation by 2015. A government plan-the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme-is expected to pay for the saplings and planting.

Universal Biofuels in process of raising funds in India through a pre IPO and IPO

Another biofuel firm Universal Biofuels, which is promoted by a US-based company AE Biofuels, is in the process of raising funds in India through a pre IPO and IPO. The investments are not frozen yet but VC Circle learns that the firm is looking to raise around Rs 200 crore through 40 percent equity dilution including the pre IPO placement and the public float. This would value it at around Rs 500 crore, behind Biotor and Roshini Biotech.

Morgan Stanley to acquire 30.4% stake in Biotor Industries

Even as crude oil prices have slumped back to the sub $100 a barrel mark, there is immense interest in alternate energy sources such as biofuel. In one of the big ticket deals in India, Morgan Stanley Private Equity is picking 30.4 percent stake in Biotor Industries for Rs 240 crore ($53 million).

According to VCCircle, Morgan Stanley arm will pick equity and compulsorily convertible preference shares totaling about 30.4 percent of the post issue paid up capital of the firm. The deal will value Biotor at Rs 790 crore ($175 million).

Mumbai-based Biotor is engaged in the manufacturing of castor oil based products and derivatives which are used in various industries such as agriculture, cosmetics, electronics and telecom, food lubricants, paper and ink, paints, plastics.

Last year Biotor had implemented a sebasic acid project and is in the process of implementing a SEZ project at Vilayat near Baruch in Gujarat. It plans to set up a manufacturing unit there.

Biotor has three subsidiaries including two wholly owned firms in US and Germany which have been set up for marketing and distributing the products manufactured by Biotor. In addition, it has a 60 percent stake in Biotor Contract Farming which is into contract farming for castor oil seeds. Biotor is in the process of acquiring the balance shares in this firm making it a wholly owned unit.

Not much is known about the promoters of Biotor. However, the firm is well capitalized. It has an equity capital of Rs 21.05 crore besides Rs 10 crore preference capital all of which is held by Indian shareholders.

The deal with Morgan Stanley will value Biotor ahead of Hyderabad based Roshini Biotech. Goldman Sachs had reportedly picked up a 25 percent stake in the company for around Rs 170 crore which would have valued it at Rs 680 crore (approximately USD 151 million), though there was no formal announcement of the deal yet. This was the second round of PE funding in Roshini. Last year, Origo Sino-India Plc, an investment and strategic advisory company focused on Chinese and Indian markets, picked up 20 percent equity stake in Roshini Biotech for a mere $2 million.

These fund raising plans are seen as a precursor to a public float by Roshini in 2011.

Note: Investment News has been taken from VC Circle (www.vccircle.com)

Serum Institute picks stake in Panacea Biotec

India's largest biotech company Serum Institute of India now has close to 7 percent stake in the Delhi-based Panacea Biotec. Serum has hiked its holding in Panacea Biotec on October 14, 2008 through bulk deal at Rs 220 per share. Part of this equity stake was bought from South Korean asset management firm, Mirae. This deal is significant as Serum Institute and Panacea are the top two Indian firms in the vaccine business. The promoters of Panacea hold 65.22 percent stake in Panacea Biotec as of September 30.

Biocon crosses Rs 700 crore in sales

Biocon announced its financial performance for the half year ending September 30, 2008. The group revenues of the company (including AxiCorp which it acquired some five months ago) increased 33 percent from Rs 553 crore) in H1FY08 to Rs 734 crore in H1FY09. Pharma sales (excluding licensing income and Axicorp) registered 21 percent growth bolstered by a 36 percent growth in its retail healthcare business.

The recently acquired German company, AxiCorp made a modest debut in the group's profitability and contributed Rs 141 crore to the topline. The net sales of the company stood at Rs 703.23 crore for the six months. Total income of the company increased by 7 percent.

"Biocon's H1FY09 performance has shown resilience despite being impacted by rupee volatility, which has seen us make mark-to-market provision of Rs 60 crore. At a time when global businesses are challenged with an economic downturn, we believe that our strong financial base gives us a significant advantage. Q2FY09 has seen us deliver the highest ever revenues across all divisions. Our API business has registered a 21 percent year on year growth bolstered by 36 percent growth in our retail branded formulations. Syngene has had a particularly strong quarter delivering its best ever sales and operating profit," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon

The company is making progress on the research front with its oral insulin IN 105 program, set to enter Phase III clinical trials and the anti-CD6 monoclonal antibody nearing the completion phase for patient enrollment. Biocon also filed 11 new patents in Q2FY09 bringing the total tally to 892 filed and 166 granted patents.

NeoBiocon, Abraxis launch Abraxane in UAE

NeoBiocon, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Neopharma and Biocon, have jointly launched Abraxane in the UAE. Abraxane is currently available in the UAE as a single-use 100 mg vial as a lyophilized powder, to be reconstituted for intravenous administration.

Abraxane, the paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension, used in treating breast cancer, is given after failure of combination therapy for metastatic disease or relapse within six months of adjuvant chemotherapy.

"The launch of Abraxane in the UAE represents a major strategic step in our plan to provide safer and more effective cancer treatments on a global scale," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, Chairman and CEO, Abraxis BioScience. "In addition to the UAE, our marketing agreement with Biocon covers more than 10 countries and we are working closely with national authorities throughout the region to receive regulatory approvals and commence marketing activities as soon as practicable."

"Abraxane is a significant advance in taxane therapy for the treatment of breast cancer. This unique product eliminates the need for chemical solvents and allows for higher doses of paclitaxel without compromising safety and tolerability," said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

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