The France-based Merieux Alliance which recently acquired controlling stake (60 per cent) in the Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics, is planning to bring together the capabilities of Shantha with its another group company Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Inc (ABL). Both the companies will work out on the possible areas of cooperation in vaccine development and other support.
Dr Varaprasad Reddy, managing director of Shantha Biotechnics is expected to join the ABL Board of Directors. The collaboration between ABL and Shantha is likely to provide a window of opportunities to the latter in the US markets, according to Alain Merieux, chairman of Merieux Alliance.
Shantha Biotechnics has presence in the US through its wholly owned subsidiary Shantha West Inc in San Diego, which is developing therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies in support with the scientists based at Shantha, Hyderabad.
The company plans to introduce several combination vaccines and therapeutic products such as human insulin, human growth hormone, oncology products and diagnostic kits. It is also looking at in-licensing technology and products from major biopharmaceutical companies.
Today, Shantha caters to major international markets in Asia Pacific, CIS and Latin America in addition to UNICEF and PAHO. It has also obtained WHO, Geneva pre-qualification for its combination vaccine of DPT + hepatitis B vaccine, enabling supplies to UN agencies.
ABL, in which Merieux Alliance has a 95 per cent stake, focuses on pre-clinical development of vaccines for infectious diseases, AIDS and cancer. Based in Washington, ABL employs 100 personnel. The company also involves in GMP biopharmaceuticals production of proteins and development of animal models.
ABL also works with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), for which it manages major development programmes in the fight against AIDS, vaccines and immunotherapy as well as prevention using micro-biocides. In addition, NIH has also entrusted ABL with the task of managing programmes for the pre-clinical development of vaccines for several infectious diseases.