Advinus Therapeutics, a TATA enterprise, announced that it has commissioned a new state-of-the-art drug discovery facility in Pune. In the first phase, the company has commissioned about 70,000 sq ft of lab and office space and has another 40,000 sq ft of expansion space.

The new facilities have been meticulously designed keeping in mind the collaborative nature of pharmaceutical innovation and need for exchange of ideas between scientists. In another key development, the company also announced that it has filed its first IND with the DCGI last week for a type-2 diabetes molecule and expects to commence phase-1 clinical trials shortly after approval.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya, the CEO and managing director of the company stated, "Our drug discovery operations have now been expanded to almost three folds of what they were. The new facility will give us a lot of room for growth of internal programmes and innovative models for future partnerships. I am very proud that in less than three years we have been able to file our first IND for approval of clinical trials which is a combined effort of both our Pune and Bangalore operations."

Dr Kasim Mookhtiar, chief scientific officer of the company said, "The filing of Advinus' first IND marks the beginning of the company's delivery of a pipeline of innovative products that addresses large unmet medical needs."