The Hyderabad-based nutraceuticals company, Nandan Biomatrix, has entered into a joint venture with Malaysia-based DNA Biosciences to create a new entity 'DNA Biomatrix Sdn. Bhd'.

The joint venture entity, which is a 50:50 partnership, aims at marketing Nandan's herbal products in Malaysia. The Malaysian partner has about 3000 outlets in the country which will help in pushing Nandan's products across Malaysia. Both the partners also intend to work on Malaysian herbs besides manufacturing herbal products based on Aloe Vera and Safed Musli meeting Malaysian GMP standards, CS Jadhav, director, Nandan Biomatrix told Pharmabiz.

DNA Biomatrix will set up a research and development centre in Malaysia with an investment of 30 million ringgits. The partners will make equal funding contribution towards the setting up of the proposed R & D centre. Having a base in Malaysia will help the company to spread its products to countries like Singapore, Korea and other neighbouring countries. Nandan is open for collaborations in the US, Europe and the Middle East, he added.

Nandan has set up an R & D centre at Agri-Science Park of ICRISAT, Hyderabad. The facility at ICRISAT constitutes phytochemical and standardization labs, extraction unit, drug development unit, quality control unit, instrumentation unit, microbiology unit and a formulations unit. The company has already carried out phytochemical analysis and standardization of eight formulations. The extraction unit will deal with bulk extracts based on herbs such as Aloe Vera and Safed Musli. It is also planning to introduce beverages based on Safed Musli.

The facility at ICRISAT will extract 25 APIs and will also seek ISO 9001 certification and GMP approval. Nandan is also expecting to obtain certification from International Aloe Science Council which will enable the company to market the products across the world. The company has so far made an investment of Rs 60 million in the ICRISAT facility, he informed.

Jadhav noted, aphrodiasic market is dominated by chemical products. The company wants to foray the market with the natural and herbal products. The company plans to first launch the products in Malaysian market, and then target Indian market. Though the initial focus will be on Malaysia, the company has serious plans to spread across Europe and Middle East. The company hopes to hit all the major markets with its range of products, this year.

In the domestic front, Nandan is in talks with West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh to develop medicinal plants park, where Nandan will contribute through its expertise in the field by collaborating with the individual State Governments and major Universities and colleges specialised in the field, he added.