| MUMBAI: Contract research firm Manipal Acunova, is talking to strategic investors from the US and Europe for a possible fund infusion and stake sale. |
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| The Bangalore-based firm is India's second largest contract research organisation (CRO) and has already raised Rs 50 crore from its founders and a clutch of investors. Manipal Group, with interests in education and health, and Acunova Contract Research holds 30% each in the company with another 40% being held by other investors. |
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| "We are talking to some US and Europe based strategic investors," DA Prasanna, vice-chairman and managing director, Manipal Acunova told DNA. "We are looking at them more for business growth. We are well-funded and do not need funds." The nine-month old company has already invested about Rs 20 crore in three research centres, two laboratories and a data management centre. |
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| "We expect to break even in the next three years and revenues should be around Rs 25 crore then," Prasanna said. Valuations in India's fledgling contract research industry are skyrocketing. In the first quarter of this year, Bangalore-based Lotus Labs was acquired by Actavis, a large pharmaceutical company headquartered in Iceland with operations in the US and Europe for a whopping Rs 125 crore. |
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| The valuation was five times the revenues of the company. Then early this month, Jubilant Organosys, picked up a 100% stake in a US-based clinical research organisation, Target Research Associates Inc for Rs 145 crore ($33.5 million). This was the first acquisition of a US-based CRO by an Indian company. |
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| Manipal Acunova, according to Prasanna, had over the last nine months conducted clinical research studies on 100 patients across the country and the target was to touch 400 patients by the end of the current fiscal. |
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| "Most of our studies are in the oncology and diabetes areas and 25% of the studies that we are conducting are on Indian drugs. The rest are for foreign drugs," said Ramananda S Nadig, chief operating officer at Manipal Acunova. |
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| "Drugs are a major component of our studies but we also do research studies on diagnostic equipment," Nadig pointed out. |
