The Andhra Pradesh Government has identified biotechnology as one of the growth engines and taken a series of measures to promote the sector. It has declared an area of 600 sq km covering the mandals of Shameerpet, Medchal, Keesra and Uppal in Ranga Reddy district, asthe Genome Valley for promotion of biotech activities. The state government, in collaboration with ICICI Bank, has set up aKnowledge Park at Thurkapally, in Shameerpet.

The state government is also setting up an Indian Institute of LifeSciences. The idea is to make the institute world-class, which willhelp the pharma industry in getting research that will lead to thedevelopment of new drugs.

Several international companies and institutions have signed MoUs withthe AP government for setting up units in the Genome Valley. There are77 biotech companies registered in Hyderabad. Some of the newcompanies registered during 2002-03 are Bio Voice Knowledge Centre,Gene Expression Training Research Institute of Bioinformatics (GETRIB),Genotex International (India) Ltd, Helix Genomics Pvt Ltd, K N Biotech, Magene Life Sciences Pvt Ltd, Medgene Biotech Pvt Ltd, Pacific Hospitals Pvt Ltd, Silico Insights Biosciences (India) Pvt Ltd and Southern Biofe Fuels Pvt Ltd.

Magene Life Sciences Pvt Ltd
Magene Life Sciences Private Ltd is an R&D driven therapeutics company. Promoted by M P Chary, an outstanding technocrat with more than three decades of experience in industrial and general management, Magene has set up a state-of-the-art R&D centre in the Genome Valley in Hyderabad. A world- class manufacturing facility is the next step.

Talking to Pharmabiz, T R Bhoiopathy, CEO and Manging Director, said the research centre was set up with an investment of Rs 7.5 crore. The present activities were focused on cloning and expression of human therapeutic proteins. The next stage would focus on Proteomics to identify novel drug targets and to develop the receptor-based assays as a service for the evaluation of novel drug entities. The company, he said, was open to contract research in cloning, fermentation and receptor assay development.

Magene would establish a world-class manufacturing facility in 2004 and the products which had been carefully identified would hit the market by the beginning of 2005. The biogenerics and other bio-pharmaceuticals developed would be manufactured for meeting the domestic as well as international requirements.

Elbit Medical Diagnostics Ltd, started by the group, is the market leader in Bangalore with two centres and one centre in Hyderabad. More centres would be opened in other metros, Bhoopathy said.

Genotex International (I) Ltd
Genotex International, focusing on R&D in biotechnology and manufacturing healthcare products, has developed novel products such as Aloe Vera Gel, Peptides for the treatment of various diseases and enzymes and molecular biologicals for use in R&D laboratories, academic and scientific institutions. Established in April 2002, by a US-based NRI, Rahul C Reddy, the company is setting up a modern R&D and manufacturing facility at SP Biotech Park, near Hyderabad.

Speaking to Chronicle Pharmabiz, C Devender Reddy, CEO and Managing Director said the company had outlicensed patented technology to prepare peptides and enzymes for human and animal healthcare from two US based companies namely NovaTero Foundation Inc. and Catalyst Inc. and a technology for transferring genes into plants from International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Italy. The mission of the company was to improve human and animal healthcare, enhance the resistance and nutritional value of plants, reduce the presence of hazardous substances in the environment and add value to medicinal plant products and develop advanced research tools and proprietary processes for the production of therapeutics and other proteins in plant expression systems, he said.

Genotex will produce enzymes and selected molecular biologicals are itsproduction facility to serve the requirements of both corporate andgovernment-run R&D laboratories. It will also produce geneticallyengineered nutritionally fortified rice for human consumption. This hasa huge potential. The company will have presence not only onpharmaceutical business but also in food and agriculture.

Silico Insights Biosciences India
The US-based biotechnology company, Silico Insights Inc., is setting up alaboratory for cancer research in Hyderabad. As part of the plan, thecompany promoted by Nandan Padukone and a couple of others, including aGreek national, has established Silico Insights Biosciences India Ltd as a fully owned subsidiary in the city. The company has already signed a Letter of Intent to establish an oncology tissue repository in the city for validation of drug targets. APIDC VCL has granted Rs 2.5 crore to the company as venture capital.

Talking to Chronicle Pharmabiz, Vikram Reddy, President, SilicoInsights Biosciences India, said the company was looking for a place inthe heart of the to set up the unit. The advantage of settingup the unit in the city is the access to major hospitals, including theIndo-American Cancer Institute, for sourcing late stage cancer tissuesfor its studies.

The laboratory, with an investment of approximately Rs10 crore is expected to be operational by February next year.

The US company provides technology and services in the drug discovery arena.