Polyclone Bioservices, a genomics drug discovery start-up has teamed-up with Tataa Biocentre, Sweden, a global real-time PCR technology major, to develop diagnostic assays for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer. The collaboration is also expected to help Polyclone commence its services in real time PCR for the Indian diagnostic market and also get funding for advanced research programmes.

In association with the Karnataka Cancer Institute (KCI), Hubli, Polyclone is also initiating a first-of-its-kind 'onco-genomics' project to build a database of cancer variants prevalent among the patients in the North Karnataka region where it would genotype the genes and create a molecular profile of cancers. For this both would jointly seek funds from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT). The database will be valuable source of information in the development of molecular diagnostics, biomarkers and prognosis to aid faster-early analysis, Naveen Kulkarni, CEO, and Polyclone told Pharmabiz.

Although the company's primary business is drug discovery, it is also evaluating some of the leading micro-array platforms to increase its target screening platform to apply for its clinical genomics projects. "Our objective is to add value to the growing clinical research market in the molecular stage besides understand the drug response, dose response at the genomic level," informed Kulkarni. "We are looking specifically at 'alternative splicing variants' to spot the splice variant in cancer," he added.

In a pilot project with the Australia-based micro- array consulting major Emphron, it will go in for high density array analysis to assess the drug response of specific genes in various types of cancer by using its proprietary micro array screening platform to a ascertain the genes behaviour and post translational modifications in drug response.

In the analysis of splice variant micro-array service, Polyclone is one of the three companies globally along with ExonHit Therapeutics, France and Jivan Biologics, California.

The company's research will be carried out at its modern lab located in the Incubation Centre at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad set up at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh. The reason to identify Dharwad for its lab is the ideal research environment of the University campus and the availability of resourceful quality talent.

According to Kulkarni, biotech start-ups could succeed only if Governments and Universities set-up incubators where scientists could commence proof of concept studies at an affordable cost. Biotechnology has long way to go and the industry has come up because of the pharma sector success. To survive in the patent regime, most of the Indian pharma-biotech companies have capitalized on the low cost service advantage to grab contract research and manufacture projects which is viewed lucrative only in short run. The need of the hour is to work on a pipeline of molecules to survive and it is here that start-up research outfits can play a key role, pointed out Kulkarni.