The Hyderabad-based Suven Life Sciences, one of the leading players in the domestic contract research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) segment, is looking forward to have collaborations with three leading global companies.

The company is currently talking with five leading global players and it will select three companies out of that. Discussions in this regard are under progress and the company is expecting to reach one or two agreements by the end of this year. Once the agreement is signed, Suven will provide services ranging from the development of molecules to the manufacturing of the same. All the five companies are from the Europe and US.

Speaking to Pharmabiz, Venkat Jasti, vice chairman and CEO, Suven Life Sciences, said, "Currently, we are working on three collaborations and are likely happen by 2009. Our strategy is to develop own molecules and also to work for other companies".

Suven Life Sciences has already filed applications for 29 patents across the globe and received four patents. Recently it has received a product patent for its clinical candidate SUVN-502 from the European Patent Office (EPO), which is valid till June 2023. The company is likely to out license the product before or after the phase II trials. Suven's two more products are likely to enter clinical trial stage this year.

The company will set up a drug discovery centre at Hyderabad by 2009 and would raise Rs 200 crore for the same. Jasti said that the centre is being set up with a view of long term planning, as it is likely to enter all the three collaborations by 2009. The company's clinical trial arm, Asian Clinical Trials (ACT) is also planning to enter strategic partnerships with CROs based in the Europe and US.