Advanced Enzyme Technologies Limited is an industrial enzyme
manufacturer and caters to a worldwide market like Europe, America,
China and India. The company specializes in providing customized,
eco-safe solutions across various industries. The key areas that
Advanced Enzymes focus on are human healthcare, animal healthcare,
textiles, leather and grain processing. Being an R&D focused
company; Advanced Enzyme Technologies has several patents and novel
applications to its credit. AETL clocked biotech revenue of Rs 88.60
crore for fiscal 2008-09 as against Rs 69.30 crore in 2007-08,
registering 42 percent growth. About 50-60 percent of the
company's export caters the needs of the US market. The
company also spends around 10-12 percent of their total turnover on
R&D. Advanced Enzyme Technologies is expecting a stable growth
in the current fiscal with exports growing, especially in the area of
bulk enzymes.
GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) recorded total biotech sales of
Rs 83.48 crore in 2008-09 as against Rs 80.40 crore in 2007-08. Vaccine
has been a key growth area for GSK in the Indian market.
GlaxoSmithKline in India is an affiliate of GlaxoSmithKline
Biologicals, headquartered in Rixensart, Belgium. Belgium is the center
of all GlaxoSmithKline's activities in the field of vaccine
research, development and production. GSK's India product
portfolio includes prescription medicines and vaccines. GSK also offers
a range of vaccines against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, invasive disease
caused by H, influenzae, chickenpox, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus
etc. As of now, GSK markets 12 types of vaccines in the Indian market.
GSK has two manufacturing units in India, located at Nashik and Thane
as well as a clinical development center in Bangalore.
Vimta Labs is a contract research and testing organization that has a
track record of serving several market leaders across the globe. Vimta
has a team of 621 professionals comprising 466 scientists in various
disciplines such as chemistry, pharma, medicine, microbiology,
molecular biology and informatics. The team is slated to double in next
three years. Vimta is a multi-site organization with more than 300,000
sq.ft. world class laboratory facilities. The company recorded a total
business revenue of Rs 81.60 crore posting 6 percent growth over that
in 2007-08.
Ankur seeds clocked revenue of Rs 80.35 crore in Bt cotton seed sales
for fiscal year of 2008-09 as against Rs 75 crore in 2007-08.
The company has released new cotton hybrids like Bollgard II during the
fiscal year of 2008-09, other hybrids like Ankur Jai BG II and Ankur
3028 BG II were released for northern, central and southern India.
Ankur Seeds got permission from the regulators to import the transgenic
cotton seed material containing drought tolerance genes. The company
had funded an American University for developing these transgenic
lines. Ankur Seeds has successfully developed cytoplasmic genetic male
sterility that will have long term benefits in brinjal hybrid seed
production technology. The company is planning to enter the regulatory
trials of Bt brinjal that were developed at its facilities using
proprietary gene construct.
For the past four decades, Wockhardt's forte has been its
pharmaceutical and biotechnology business which is backed by
research-oriented technology. Wockhardt's pioneering efforts
in biotechnology led to the launch of three successful products in the
Indian market: Biovac-B (hepatitis B vaccine), Wepox (erythropoietin),
and Wosulin (recombinant insulin). The company has also made a
breakthrough by launching a novel long-acting insulin, Glargine.
Wockhardt is prepared to tap biogenerics opportunity, which is powered
by its vision to introduce one biopharmaceutical product every year.
Wockhardt is a listed entity altogether with its R&D locations
in Wockhardt, Aurangabad and Mumbai; Negma Laboratories, France; Morton
Grove Pharmaceuticals, Illinois, USA; Wockhardt, UK and Pinewood,
Ireland.
Krishidhan Seeds Limited clocked a total turnover of Rs 63.25
crore in FY 2008-09 as compared to Rs 40 crore in 2007-08
from Bt cotton. Krishidhan's R&D spend is about six
percent of its total sales covering both the basic and applied research
in agribiotechnology. Although the company decided to enter into GM
crops in 2001, it was able to launch its products in 2006 due to delay
in regulatory approvals and procedures. Krishidhan Seeds is using the
Monsanto technology and was one of the three companies to launch
Bollgard II, which was more effective than Bollgard I, in 2006-07.
Krishidhan is also in the process of looking at other technologies that
would control bollworm complex and other pests. At present it is mainly
focusing on promoting Bollgard II technology with desired tolerance to
sucking pest complex in its elite hybrid.
Genesis of the company goes back to the time when Dr Pradip K Desai
present chairman conceived the idea of a a start-up company in 1972, as
the Desai Laboratories. The main goal of Span Diagnostics was
to indigenously develop and manufacture a comprehensive range of
ready-made diagnostic reagents needed by clinical pathology
laboratories. Span Diagnostics is giving emphasis to in-house
R&D to develop more and more products, keeping the customer
needs in mind and quality under constant vigil. The initial efforts
yielded success and Span became a private limited company in 1981.The
company then went public in 1994, to bring in more resources and expand
further. Today, Span has a wide range of quality products and
dedicated services and the products are manufactured at its
state-of-the-art plants in India and France, strictly following
WHO-cGMP norms.
Nath Biogene offers scores of new crop varieties, hybrid seeds, growth
supplements and related services to farmers from all over the country.
Nath Biogene's products and services have changed the demand
dynamics in the country. The company made substantial investments to
upgrade R&D activities to international standards. Reaching the
Indian farmers with rigorously tested seed-embedded technologies for
genetic enhancement is the prime goal of Nath Biogene. The company
forges linkages with some of the best-known institutions within the
country and abroad to enhance the research activities. Collaboration
with the prestigious Biotechnology Research Institute of Chinese of
Academy of Agricultural Sciences is one among them.
Serum International, a subsidiary of the Serum Group, has clocked
revenue of Rs 46 crore for fiscal year 2008-09. Serum Institute of
India sets up Serum International Ltd to market research-based products
from Serono, world leaders in fertility products. The
Pune-based subsidiary of India's largest manufacturer of
vaccines has many acheivements to its credit. Serum
International's most talked about milestone was the launch of
Pygeum Africanum soft gelatin capsule, Pyginal, for benign prostate
hypertrophy (BPH). BPH is an age-related prostate gland problem
occurring in males after the age of 40. BPH occurs because of
enlargement of the prostate gland which is an important organ of the
male reproductive system.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories has clocked revenues of Rs 40 crore
for the fiscal year 2008-09 as against Rs 34 crore in 2007-08. The
company hopes that its key brand Reditux will be the first in a series
of biosimilar products that will revolutionize the affordability of
these products for patients in India. Dr Reddy's has shifted
its focus to the development of biosimilars, while its long term vision
is to develop new biological entities (NBEs) in niche therapeutic
areas. In biologics, Dr Reddy's offers two products, Reditux
and Grafeel. Otherwise, in total the company is offering 14 anti-cancer
drugs, which are not biotech products. Dr Reddy's is the
second largest player in oncology in India after Roche. The biotech
products of Dr Reddy's are not only focused on oncology and
monoclonal antibodies but also in nephrology and autoimmune diseases.
Indovax is engaged in the production of quality poultry biologicals
since 1991. The company's research is focused on product
development for Indian (tropical) conditions. The company manufactures
viral vaccines, inactivated vaccines and bacterins by
using SPF eggs and the
best quality raw material, sourced from
renowned international suppliers. The company enjoys over 40 percent
market share in Gumboro vaccine segment that was launched in the 1990s.
Indovax's Hydropericardium syndrome vaccine and Fowl cholera
vaccine have a similar success story. Last year, Indovax entered into a
joint venture with a large European company to produce
products critical to a number of biomedical and veterinary procedures,
including production of diagnostic kits, reagents, disease diagnosis,
biomedical research, and the production of some mammalian, human and
avian vaccines.
Wyeth Limited is a subsidiary of the US-based pharmaceutical company,
Wyeth. The company clocked estimated revenues of Rs 35 crore (purely
from its vaccine business) with its blockbuster vaccine, Prevnar
(launched in 2006 in India) having a good amount of the
share. Wyeth Limited has a strong presence in oral
contraceptives, folic acid and depilatory cream also. It was
the first company to launch hormone therapy. In the field of vaccines,
Wyeth introduced vaccines against HIB and invasive pneumococcal disease
in the country. Enbrel, a breakthrough treatment for rheumatoid
arthritis and Rapamune, an immunosuppressant for prevention of
rejection after renal transplant, Prevenar, a pneumococcal conjugate
vaccine and Tygacil, the world's first glycilcycline
antibiotic, are among internationally known products launched by Wyeth
Limited in India. The company has a state-of-the-art manufacturing
facility in Verna, Goa.
Despite the economic slowdown hitting the country, Aventis
Pharma's exports saw a double digit growth and showed a
growth performance of 23 percent. The company's expenditure
on R&D grows up to 0.51 percent and it employs 2,070 people.
The company launched a new prefilled disposable insulin pen, SoloSTAR
for use with the 24-hour insulin Lantus. Lantus had shown a growth rate
of 30 percent and was also won the prestigious OPPI Marketing
Excellence Award. This disposable insulin pen is to be used
for the treatment of hyperglycemia in people with type 1 or type 2
diabetes. Aventis has state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities at Goa
and Ankleshwar, where a number of pharmaceutical ingredients and
formulations are produced. Both the sites comply with
prevailing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Health, Safety and
Environment (HSE) standards and score highly in terms of performance.
Strand Life Sciences is a premier life science informatics innovation
company founded by Dr Vijay Chandru, an academician turned
entrepreneur. Strand leverages its core strengths and intellectual
property in data mining, predictive modeling, bioinformatics, and
computational chemistry to develop products and solutions for drug
discovery. Strand Life Sciences is developing a new software solution
for the analysis of data from Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)
experiments. This new solution incorporates algorithms optimized to
process NGS data while focusing on integration with downstream
biological analysis. The solution will support most of the applications
being performed on NGS platforms. Strand is a member of the
bioinformatics software partnership program established by Illumina
Inc. to promote data integration and advanced analysis of data from
various Illumina products including NGS data.
Lambda Therapeutics works on all aspects of clinical drug development
including clinical trials, clinical laboratory, data management, and
bioavailability studies. with its head office in Ahmedabad and branches
at Mumbai and Chennai; Warsaw, Poland and USA. It has an employee
strength of more than 500 members. Past records of the
company include having 1,000 BA/BE studies, 20 phase-I studies and 35
phase-II and phase-III clinical trials. In 2008, Lambda Bioanalytical
Facility got a GLP certification from Thailand FDA. Lambda
has acquired a pharmacovigilance CRO in the UK and a Polish
CRO firm, CBK-MPR Pharma. The clinical lab of Lambda also received a
CAP accreditation and was accredited by the most prestigious
body College of American Pathologists on May 4, 2005. Lambda is one of
the five clinical labs in India and the first one in Gujarat to have
CAP accreditation.
Rank 21-50 Companies
Hester Biosciences Limited is a veterinary vaccines manufacturing
company, which has ISO 9001-2000 and GMP certifications. The product
range includes 11 types of live and 28 types of inactivated poultry
vaccines. Propagation of micro-organisms for manufacturing of the
vaccines is done through tissue culture, through specific pathogen free
embryos and through fermentation processes. Having achieved a turnover
of Rs 32.60 crore in 2007-08, Hester claims to have the second largest
market share for poultry vaccines in India. Hester
imports one vaccine from the US. It also exports some of its
vaccines to three countries and registration are pending in over 10
countries. Besides marketing its own vaccines, Hester represents other
companies like Merial USA for poultry vaccines; Biopharm, Czech
Republic, for poultry vaccines; Synbiotics, USA, for animal diagnostic
kits for the Indian market.
Cadila Pharmaceuticals (CPL) is a key research-based, tech-savvy
pharmaceutical company focusing on areas like formulations, new drug
discovery, active pharmaceutical ingredients, analytical research,
phytochemistry, biotechnology, plant tissue culture, biosynthesis,
genetic engineering, vaccines and immunoglobulins. Over the last few
years, CPL has established a strong R&D base in biotechnology
and developed working relations with key R&D institutes in the
country. CPL has its own research facility at Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) Bangalore. About 20 products including
conventional and recombinant vaccines, anti-cancer biotherapeutics,
diagnostics using recombinant antigens and natural thrombolites with
high market potential are in its biotechnology basket. Cadila has
developed Immuvac, a potent immunomodulator for the first time in the
world. Sodium Hyaluronate, is another biotech product developed on the
basis of technology obtained from Center for Biochemical Technology,
Delhi.
JK Agri Genetics Ltd (JKAL) was established in 1989 with its
headquarters at Hyderabad. The biotechnology division of the company is
engaged in R&D, production, processing and marketing of hybrid
seeds of sorghum, pearl millet, maize, cotton, rice, sunflower, tomato,
okra and hot pepper.
JKAL has invested extensively in biotechnology programs and has
collaborations with several national and international research
institutions and agricultural universities to harness biotechnology for
crop improvement. The company has developed a range of superior hybrids
with Bt gene and other novel genes that fulfills farmers’
aspirations. A team of 15 scientists are currently working on the
application of DNA markers such as RFLP, AFLP, SSR and ISSR,
agrobacterium and biolistic mediated transformation technology in
various crops using novel genes and application of in-vitro culture.
Maps India is a producer and exporter of industrial enzymes. With over
150 employees, sophisticated production plant and a dedicated
R&D center, Maps India has become a key player in enzymes and
microorganisms. A team of 30 scientists is involved in R&D
activities at Maps India. Maps produces a broad range of enzymes and
microorganisms that include amylases, proteases, cellulases, xylanase,
glucoamylase, pectinase, catalase and phytase, which are used for
industrial purposes. With a complex product portfolio of over 60
products, a sales network that covers 20 countries and products for
more than 10 different industries, Maps provides biotech solutions to
improve industrial performance and quality. Maps is investing Rs 10
crore in Gujarat to expand its expansion.
Suven Life Sciences is a collaborative research partner (CRP) in drug
discovery for global pharma companies since 2006. The company is also
focusing on contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) since
1995 and drug discovery and development support services (DDDSS) since
2005. Suven is engaged in discovering new chemical entities in central
nervous system (CNS) therapeutic areas including Alzheimer’s,
cognitive impairment, dementia, depression, Parkinson’s
disease and obesity which are at various phases of preclinical and
clinical development. The company has recently undergone US FDA
inspection at their intermediate/active pharmaceutical ingredient (API)
facility in Suryapet, Andhra Pradesh. The company’s revenues
from DDDSS stood at Rs 21.03 crore.
Varda Biotech is a technology and knowledge-based enterprise, offering
integrated services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. It
engages in high-end collaboration for the products and services that
enhance the capability and productivity performances of its customers
and business associates. Varda offers an ultra pure and highly
thermostable recombinant Taq DNA Polymerase that has been isolated from
recombinant E.coli. Varda provides custom service for clients requiring
custom made peptides for research use, which are of either linear
sequence or modified ones. Varda has received the ISO 9001:2000
certificate. It has the technical expertise to produce and deliver
quality antibodies for life science research community. The company has
launched educational biotechnology kits under the brand name
Bio-Knowledge Kit and has alliance with global players for product
association and representation in India too.
Celestial Labs has been supporting pharma, bio-pharma and biotech
manufacturing with customized IT solutions and contract research. The
company is also involved in R&D, commercial production and
marketing of enzymes and nutraceuticals. Celestial Labs is setting up a
biotechnology facility at Genome Valley in Hyderabad to manufacture its
own drug molecules, industrial enzymes and contract research
activities. The business plan of Celestial Labs is essentially based on
the production and supply of the biotechnological products which have
very significant industrial implications, especially in both pharma and
biopharmaceutical sectors. Celestial Labs has been engaged in
production of custom peptides for last five years. The acquisition of
Bioconcept, an advanced facility for automated equipment, has
establishing itself as a reliable source of contract research services
on custom peptide synthesis.
Shreya Group started its operation in Moscow, Russia, where Shreya
Corporation, the parent company, was established in 1995. Once a
one-man trading company, Shreya is a marketing and distribution company
in Russia. Shreya Group has interests in both pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical products in key therapeutic segments. Shreya Life
Sciences, the Indian arm of Shreya Group, started its operations in
India in 2001 by acquiring Rallis India Ltd, a TATA Group company. In
2003, Shreya acquired the domestic pharma business of Plethico
Pharmaceuticals Ltd, with a view to achieve a full-fledged national
presence. Some of the products in human insulin introduced by
Shreya in India include, Recosulin-M30 40 I.U, Recosulin-M30
100 I.U, Recosulin-M50 100 I.U,Recosulin-M50 40 I.U, Recosulin-N 100
I.U, Recosulin-N 40 I.U, Recosulin-R 100 I.U and Recosulin-R
40 I.U.
Zytex (India) Pvt Ltd is engaged in marketing of a broad range of
biotechnological products. Zytex believes that the product research
should be backed by application development. Hence it set up an
application lab in 1997 to support the customers and also to develop
products from the bench scale to the customer rapidly. Based on
research conducted at its center, Zytex is now in the process of
setting up a new production facility for a range of therapeutic enzymes
and proteins. Its research laboratory is well equipped and manned with
qualified professionals. Zytex has also set up an ISO 9001:2000
certified manufacturing unit. Zytex markets a broad range of
biotechnological products that are unique and are specifically demanded
by customers. Zytex has strong distribution network in India and also
in Asia/South East Asia.
Bhat Bio-tech India specializes in the design development, manufacture
and marketing of diagnostic devices for tests like pregnancy, HIV,
hepatitis, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, syphlis, TB, cardiac markers,
dry chemistry, biochemistry, hematology, immunology and ELISA test used
in the analysis of body fluids in human. The company has registered
revenue of Rs 12.10 crore in FY09. Bhat Bio-tech has recently
got the technology transfer from Defence Research & Development
Establishment (DRDE) for manufacturing rapid test for toxin (ricin).
This is an immunochromatography-based test which will detect the ricin
as low as 50ng/ml in the sample. The company has launched the rapid
test for the detection of IgM antibodies for chikungunya virus in human
serum or plasma and also launched the AIDSCAN HIV-1/2 Trispot
Test based on immunoconcentration principle and uses human
serum or plasma and identifies HIV-1 and HIV-2 separately.
Multiplex Biotech has clocked revenues of Rs 12 crore in fiscal year
2008-09 as against Rs 15 crore in 2007-08. The increased revenue in
2007-08 was a result of a bulk order placement from Andaman and Nicobar
which contributed about Rs 5 crore in the last fiscal. Multiplex is
promoted by Dr GP Shetty, an entrepreneur having vast experience in the
field of manufacturing and marketing of agricultural products such as
multimicronutrient fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, insecticides etc.
The company has an unit at Nelamangala which is manufacturing wide
range of agro-based biotech products which are used for the growth,
development and to get more yields in field crops, fruit crops,
plantation crops, horticultural crops etc.
ABL Biotechnologies Limited (ABL), based in Chennai, is a pioneer in
harnessing the biodiversity of the Indian marine environment. ABL has
been working on identification and commercial extraction of
bio-chemicals, predominantly from microbes, that have far reaching
applications as nutritional, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and industrial
intermediates. The microbial metabolites Laboratory at Chennai works on
evaluating new sources of biochemicals from marine organisms. ABL has
been conducting research on polysaccharides, essential fatty acids,
natural pigments, tracers and tags with considerable success. Present
focus includes work on pharmaceuticals like anti-bacterials and
anti-virals, enzymes, bio-molecular materials, bio-monitors and
diagnostics, bio-pesticides, bioremediation and aquaculture.
ABL’s efforts are focused on the enormous potential of Indian
biodiversity for the production of new tools to both fight as well as
prevent disease.
Metahelix Life Sciences is an agricultural biotechnology company
focused on developing traits and technologies for crop protection and
improved productivity. Metahelix markets hybrid seeds by its
wholly-owned subsidiary seeds business, Dhaanya Seeds. Metahelix has
developed two versions of Bt cotton and a Bt rice hybrid that controls
rice yellow stem borer (YSB) using the Bt based Cry1Ac gene. The
company’s biotechnology capability includes all the aspects
of gene mining, development, molecular biology, crop transformation,
phenotyping, assaying and trait development. The company’s
research initiatives include developing hybrid seeds of rice, maize,
cotton (Bt), millet, sunflower, sorghum, tomato, okra, hot pepper,
melons. and research and development of biotech traits like insect
protection, virus protection and fungal disease protection. The company
currently employs 230 people and plans to hire another 40 by next year.
Zenotech Laboratories is a Hyderabad-based biopharmaceutical company
which develops new biological entities in the areas of cancer and
neurology. The company has initiated target identification and
validation programs using gene and protein based technologies. This
brings together proprietary technologies in the identification of cell
surface proteins and receptors as candidate drug targets. Zenotech also
develops and manufactures generic biopharmaceuticals and also offers
comprehensive services for generating and characterizing recombinant
proteins. The company provides a full range of services from cloning a
gene, expression in microbial or mammalian systems, process development
and generation of milligram to gram quantities of pure recombinant
proteins. The company also offers functional, validated assays in both
cell-based and cell-free formats for use in drug discovery.
Excel Industries Ltd primarily manufactures chemicals for industrial
and agricultural needs. The business divisions of Excel include agri,
chemical, and environment and biotech. The environment and biotech
division has developed biodynamic products and processes for tackling
environment and biotech problems. Excel’s activities include
sanitization, bioconversion, bioremediation and bioaugmentation. The
environment and biotech division has two product categories namely
agricultural biotech products and environment biotech products. The
agricultural biotech products make extensive use of naturally occurring
microbes such as bacteria and fungi. The products are broadly
classified under the categories of soil enrichers and biopesticides,
and the division makes extensive use of naturally occurring microbes
that helps in the aerobic decomposition of organic matter in its
various forms such as agricultural and food waste, animal waste that
includes fats and proteins.