Syngene International (Syngene), a subsidiary of the biopharma major Biocon, is an internationally reputed custom research company with multi-disciplinary skills in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology.

The sales revenue of the company increased from Rs 224.60 crore in FY 2008-09 to Rs 252 crore in FY 2009-10 clocking a growth of 24 percent. There are plans of listing Syngene on Bombay Stock Exchange in the coming fiscal.

Syngene has consolidated its position as one of the leading custom research organizations in India. The commencement of operations from its recently commissioned biologics pilot plant, coupled with formulation development and other new service offerings, positions Syngene as an ideal partner for providing high quality discovery services at competitive prices in both large and small molecules.

The company recently partnered with Endo Pharmaceuticals to develop a novel biological therapeutic molecule against cancer. Under the terms of the agreement, Endo will retain the rights of the molecule developed, and in return, Syngene will receive research fees, milestone payments and success fees from Endo. This is first-of-its-kind in India involving the discovery of a biological therapeutic entity.

This also marks Endo's foray into the biologics space and is in line with its strategy of building its pipeline using a virtual discovery approach in conjunction with its in-licensing efforts.

Syngene conducts high value R&D in early stage drug discovery and development for a diverse global clients. From early stage discovery and process development through to cGMP manufacturing, Syngene provides customized R&D services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on a strong platform of confidentiality and intellectual property protection.

Established in 1994, Syngene was India's first custom research organization to receive special export status from the Government of India. Over the past 16 years, the company has successfully partnered with leading players in the global pharma industry across a range of challenging programs, right from discovery to supply of complex development compounds.

The company has developed skills in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology, process chemistry and cell line services. The company is also leveraging the convergence of IT and biotech.

Early 2007, the company entered into a research partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). Through this partnership, it is providing R&D services for discovery and early drug development to BMS.

Last year, Syngene International has partnered with Sapient Discovery, a US-based biotech company, offering fully-integrated drug discovery services.