Advinus Therapeutics Pvt Ltd, a Tata Enterprise for drug research outsourcing, is planning to expand its research facilities as part of its efforts to expand drug discovery and development operations in collaboration with major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies.

The company, which has its state-of-the-art drug discovery facility at Pune in an area of around 20000 sq ft, is setting up a new research laboratory in an 80000 sq ft to accommodate 200 to 220 scientists at a time. The new laboratory at Pune, which is currently under fitouts process, will be ready for operation by November 2008, according to the company officials.

"Currently we have a strength of 110 scientists in our laboratory and we are planning to bring it up to 150 scientists including for drug development by the year end. The target is to increase the number of scientists working in our laboratories to 200 to 220 in the next year," said Rajiv Malik, head of business and corporate development, Advinus Therapeutics. The company is investing Rs 30 to 40 crore in the new facility, which is under a lease of up to 10 years, for setting up the laboratory.

The company will shift its operations from the current facility, which is under lease, to the new facility within a few weeks, said Rashmi Barbhaiya, chief executive officer and managing director, Advinus Therapeutics. The company is currently carrying out six to seven projects including three to five in-house projects.

"We are attracting a number of pharmaceutical players for collaborative drug discovery research. We expect to sign one or two more deals within a year's time. We are also looking options for out licensing the drugs developed through our in-house projects, once they are in a matured stage," said Barbhaiya. Lately, the company has signed a deal with the US-based Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc (OMJPI), a member of Johnson and Johnson Family of Companies for discovery and development of two target molecules.

Advinus has entered into partnership with the Geneva-based Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) for discovery and development of therapies for visceral leishmaniasis, commonly known in India as Kala-azar and another deal with Genzyme Corporation to accelerate discovery of novel therapies for Malaria. The company has also received three milestone payments from Merck & Co, Inc to develop clinically validated drug candidates in metabolic diseases within a time of one year and eight months. The company is expected to cover Rs 100 crore turnover in the next financial year, said R Gopalakrishnan, chairman, Advinus Therapeutics and executive director, Tata Sons.

The company claims that Advinus Therapeutics is the first of its kind company in India to offer end-to-end development services to the global pharmaceutical, agrochemical and biotechnology industries while creating long-term value through internal and collaborative drug discovery programmes.