Nicholas Piramal India Inks R&D Deal With Merck

Mumbai-based Nicholas Piramal India Limited inked a research and development deal with Delhi-based Merck subsidiary MSD Pharmaceuticals, NPIL announced Nov. 19.

Under the research and collaboration agreement NPIL will be responsible for developing two oncology targets selected by Merck and moving them through investigational new drug-enabling nonclinical trials and proof-of-concept clinical trials.

Merck will then have an option to advance the most promising candidates into late-stage trials for commercialization. NPIL will be eligible to receive up to $175 million per target in milestone payments plus royalties under the deal.

"This agreement furthers the strategy of building a global alliance," Merck told PharmAsia News. "Merck decided to collaborate with NPIL because it felt they had the best discovery and development capabilities to really take this forward. They've got some good scientists there on these particular discovery programs [in oncology]."

NPIL will operate under its current R&D structure to develop the oncology targets, NPIL President - M&A Investor Relations Vijay Sathye told PharmAsia News.

The company is ranked fourth in the Indian market with consolidated revenues of $602 million in 2006-07. Consolidated revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30 increased by 16.8 percent compared to the same period last year. Net profit for the quarter grew by 57.9 percent, the company reported Oct. 25.

In an Oct. 26 note Citigroup Investment Research analyst Prashant Nair said: "We are raising our target price for Nicholas Piramal (NPIL) by 15 percent to $455 rupees per share [$11.57 USD] following strong second quarter results and the management's revised guidance. NPIL remains our top pick in the Indian pharma sector."

Trendy Indian Spin-off R&D Companies

Following a trend in the Indian pharmaceutical industry, Nicholas Piramal "de-merged" its new chemical entity R&D unit into an independent company, NPIL announced Aug. 31. It currently has 13 compounds in its pipeline - four of which are in clinical trials.

Ranbaxy Laboratories announced Oct. 18 it was moving to spin-off its drug discovery activities into a separate company with dedicated resources. The firm has made most of its fortune in generics but has moved in recent years to invest those funds in discovery research. The Gurgaon, India-based firm reported sales of $1.35 billion in 2006.

The spin-off will also provide a platform for increased collaboration, the company said. In April, a discovery alliance between Ranbaxy and GlaxoSmithKline yielded its first clinical candidate. The compound, targeted for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is to be developed by Ranbaxy through proof of concept under an expansion of the agreement (Also see "Ranbaxy Board Approves Spin-off Of Drug Discovery Company" - Scrip, 22 Oct, 2007.).

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals also announced it would spin off its generics business to new company Glenmark Generics, which will handle the development, manufacture and marketing of generic formulation and API businesses, and will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals will continue to directly manage the novel R&D and branded formulation businesses of the group (PharmAsia News, Nov. 16, 2007).

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Sun also announced recent spin-off companies.

Meanwhile, Merck also has a collaboration with Bangalore-based Advinus under which the firm achieved its first milestone in drug discovery and clinical development in two target programs for metabolic programs, Merck announced Nov. 6.

The companies began working together in November 2006 to develop clinically validated drug candidates with Merck retaining the right to advance the most promising of these candidates into late-stage trials.

The milestone was achieved three months ahead of schedule. Under the terms of the agreement, Advinus will receive milestone payments at various stages of development and could receive up to $74.5 million for each target candidate, as well as royalties on sales.

- Tamra Sami ([email protected])