Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene International, India’s largest contract research organisation have inked a  five-year extension of their drug discovery and development collaboration in India. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Since 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb has been working with Syngene and its corporate parent, Biocon Ltd., to develop integrated capabilities in medicinal and process chemistry, biology, biotechnology, biomarkers, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, analytical research, and pharmaceutical development at the Biocon Bristol-Myers Squibb Research Center (BBRC) in Bangalore.   

The US-India collaboration has produced six drug candidates for further study and also helped Bristol-Myers Squibb reduce the time and costs associated with advancing new compounds to first-in-human studies. One drug candidate currently in clinical trials was discovered at BBRC and early nonclinical development work done at BBRC has enabled most of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s small molecule assets to advance to later stages of development over the last five years.

Commenting on the new agreement, Peter Bains, director, Syngene International, said that the extension o the BMS research reflects the strength of our existing collaboration which has delivered many successful outcomes. The scope of Syngene’s engagement has expanded to encompass a broad range of integrated service offerings across the drug discovery and development continuum. We remain committed to supporting BMS in their pursuit of developing new and innovative medicines for the future.”

“We are excited about the  opportunity to continue our highly productive collaboration with Biocon and Syngene. The BBRC has supported the nonclinical development of a large proportion of our small-molecule portfolio assets since its inception, and is a premier example of the high-quality innovative drug hunting that is taking place in India today,”  said Francis Cuss, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene jointly developed the BBRC at Biocon Park in Bengaluru.   Over the years, BBRC has become Bristol-Myers Squibb’s largest research and development center outside the United States, housing more than 400 scientists.