ONCO Life Sciences, the Pune based consultancy company for life sciences sector, is setting its strategy to grow in the market through offering unique services like individualisation of various therapies in partnership with overseas companies. The company has also announced its plans to set up its first subsidiary in Singapore considering the potential market in the country and its proximity to Far East Asia.
The company, with its efforts to bring in new individualised technologies for the patients in India, will soon commercialise an individualised gene therapy for treating cancer in India, in collaboration with Mologen Inc, Germany. The company has received No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Department of Biotechnology for import of gene therapy from its partner German partner and is currently waiting for the final approval from Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
The first of its kind individualised cell based gene therapy for treating cancer will be treated in patients in Lilavathi Hospital, Mumbai and Sir Gangaram Hospital, New Delhi as a beginning. The cell based gene therapy is a tailor made therapy based on the condition of the patient, and thus in the current situation mass volumes similar to monoclonal antibodies and other chemical entities cannot be easily reached at Mologen's manufacturing facility, he added.
The company is also gearing up to float a subsidiary, ONCO Life Sciences Pte Ltd, in Singapore at the Biopolis international R&D center for its operations in Singapore and far east Asia. The new special purpose vehicle, coming up with the support of Economic Development Board of Singapore, is expected to commence its operations by the third quarter of current fiscal year.
The proposed subsidiary, ONCO Life Sciences Pte Ltd, will initially focus on marketing the innovative cell-based gene-therapy of Mologen AG, the Berlin based biotechnology company. Plans are also there for ONCO to sign fresh agreements with Mologen AG for marketing the technology in Far East Asia and Singapore once the new subsidiary is ready to launch, according to Ashish Agarwal, founder and CEO, ONCO Life Sciences Pvt Ltd. The company is planning to invest Four million Singapore Dollars for the new subsidiary.
"We have a set of unique services to offer for our customers. There are more companies coming up in this field, resulting in competition, but our company will be the pioneer in the segment," said Ashish. The company has also entered into an MoU with the Amsterdam based BioDetection Systems BV (BDS) to introduce a cell based diagnostics for dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzodioxins), endocrine disrupters and sports doping in India. The company is currently seeking support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to set up a well-facilitated R&D in India.