The joint venture between the Hyderabad based Shantha Biotech and the Chennai based ABL Technologies, 'Shantha Marine Biotechnologies', has tuned sour with the partners choosing to split. The four year old biotechnology company was a 60:40 joint venture. The split is learnt to be an outcome of the prolonged financial and management crisis in Shantha Marine following the resignation of its founder director KO Issac.

Pharmabiz reported earlier, after the ABL founder director KO Isaac's resignation, the company has lost its major chunk of clients. Isaac's resignation came as a protest against the decision of Shantha Biotech to appoint Abhay Gupta as the new COO above him. With Abhay Gupta as the newly appointed COO, the company has witnessed tremendous financial erosion due to cut down in their clientele's list.

The joint venture, said to be the first 100 per cent marine biotech initiative in the country, was started with an investment of Rs.1.5 crore. The company had plans to pump in about 90 crore in five years for further development. Shantha Marine was envisaged to develop asthaxanthin (an antioxidant), gamma linolenic acid that finds direct application in treating obesity, PMS etc. It is significant to note that ABL had approached Shantha Biotech for financial support four years ago for the production of Beta Carotene.

Shantha Biotech invested about Rs. 3 crore in the joint venture and has also advanced an inter-corporate loan of Rs. 2.5 crore to ABL earlier. The investment which was made in the equity and technology is a complete write-off and ABL has committed itself to repay the inter-corporate loans, according to sources. As of now, ABL is looking to rope in new investor in place of Shantha Biotech.

Shantha Marine has been undertaking production of beta-carotene from an indigenous strain of the marine algae Dunaliela, the only one of its kind in India. The facility is at Kallamozhi village, Tiruchendur of Tamil Nadu. Carotenoids act as antioxidants, protecting cells from free radical attack. These molecules have wide ranging applications in enhancing immune responses, protecting the skin and retarding growth of cancer cells.