Avesthagen tie-ups

Avestha Gengraine Technologies Private Limited (see "The lady and the lab,” Parsiana, November 2001) announced a strategic joint venture with the Denmark-based Centre for Clinical and Basic Research (CCBR) and its subsidiary Nordic Biosciences. Avestha­gen, a premier Indian biotechnology and bioinformatics company founded by entrepreneur-scientist Villoo Morawala Patell in Bangalore around five years ago, will work with CCBR on a wide array of aspects covering the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, a leading healthcare problem in rapidly aging populations, including the Parsis, in developed and developing countries.

Patell: colla-borating with Denmark

Speaking about the tie-up, Dr Claus Christiansen, founder and chief executive officer, CCBR, said: "We are happy to tie-up with Avesthagen; this partnership will be crucial to jumpstarting the Indo-Danish collaboration in the biotech industry,” reports Bio­Spectrum’s December 2004 issue.

Pharma major Cipla and Avesthagen have expanded the scope of their ongoing biothera­peutics development program to include next generation drugs that cater to the oncology and cardiovascu­lar segments. The expansion is a sequel to the successes in the ongoing program between the two companies in autoimmune disorders and oncology that was announced earlier in May 2004, reports BioSpectrum’s January 2005 issue.