Syngene International, the contract research arm of Biocon has expanded the scope of its research and development (R&D) efforts with Baxter Health Corporation.
This development comes on the heels of Syngene entering into a pact with British drug company GSK.
As part of the expansion, Syngene will set up additional infrastructure at the dedicated Baxter Global Research Center (BGRC) as well as increase the size of its scientific team working on Baxter projects, the company said in a statement. Syngene, however, did not go into specifics of the number of people as well as the deal size .
Syngene and Baxter originally established the Baxter Global Research Center, a dedicated R&D centre in 2013. This was expanded and the scope of R&D also got extended until 2024.
Jonathan Hunt, CEO, Syngene International Limited, said that the collaboration allows the company to offer integrated scientific solutions to its clients.
Since the last month or so, Syngene has been inking a slew of partnerships for its drug discovery services. A month back, Syngene inked a pact with GSK to focus on accelerating the discovery of new drug candidates using Syngene’s discovery services platforms. It was a similar deal, where Syngene would set up a team which would set up a customised discovery research laboratory to support projects across several therapeutic areas.
It has a smiliar partnership with Zumutor Biologics, an emerging immuno-oncology company. Also, Syngene presently operates dedicated R&D Centers for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen and Herbalife, in addition to Baxter.
Syngene, which is listed in the stock exchange, has had a positive impact on its parent Biocon, and at the March-ended quarter, registered a revenue growth of 45 per cent to ₹409 crore, aided by a strong performance of its chemical development vertical and traction in discovery services.
However, Syngene had to facesome challenges, which included a fire in one of its facilities in Bengaluru, in fourth quarter of 2017 fiscal. It resulted in declining in revenues. The Syngene stock closed at 599, marginally down as compared to the previous day’s close.