The US-based Vivo Biosciences Inc (VBI), an early stage biotech company in research and development (R&D) of new preclinical bioassays to accelerate drug discovery, is planning to set up its R&D facility in India within a few months.

The company, which has some of the top ten big pharma companies as its clients in US, is in the process of establishing a lab in the Lucknow Biotech Park jointly by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Department of Science and Technology (DST). The company has also moved a proposal to the DBT seeking help to get introduced with the research institutes under its aegis to carry projects in initial stage of operation.

The company is planning to set up two or three labs, of 2000 sq ft, in the country ensuring support from the headquarters at Birmingham, US. The facility at Lucknow will have 6000 sq ft area, which will also house the Indian manufacturing facility of its sister concern - Cognet Ltd.

The Indian operations for next two years need nearly US$2 million and the company is carrying out efforts to raise the funds from Indian markets itself, informed Raj K Singh, president and chief executive officer (CEO), Vivo Biosciences Inc. The company is looking for various options including joint venture with pharmaceutical companies and inviting venture capital firms for funding. The Vivo India Ltd, the Indian branch of Vivo Biosciences, is expected to be operational by early March 2009, he added.

The company's preclinical drug testing assays including 3D bioassay branded as Hubiogel, multi tissue drug toxicity analysis, biomarker profiling of patient samples will be introduced in India for the use of drug discovery firms, said Singh.

"Normally, the drug discovery and development process needs a huge investment and the companies in India have to struggle to raise the funds. Many of the targets fail in human trials though the animal trials showed satisfactory results. A lot of diseases like cancer and alzheimer's disease cannot be duplicated in animals and we should always remember that animals are not humans. Our assays will help the companies to predict the success of the target molecule even before pre-clinical studies," said Singh. He added that many of the major domestic pharma players have already shown interest in the novel technology.

Hubiogel, the lead product of the company, has been useful for identifying why a cancer drug failed in clinical trails, reported new hits which were not detectable by other cell-based assays and has a facility for patient-based therapy response and drug profiling or prediction.

The bioassays of the company will help the Indian companies in identifying new hits, validation of drug efficacy and can provide better 'go or no-go' decisions. The company through its business models of fee-for-services drug testing, R&D collaborations and Hubiogel products and kits can also help joint drug discovery projects and therapy prediction, added Singh.

"We have reported a success rate of 20 to 30 percent in our predictions and according to one of our customers, which is one among the top five global pharma companies, this success rate itself can save USD50 million to USD100 million in drug discovery research," he averred.

Vivo Biosciences, incorporated in 2004, is currently valued at USD8 million. The company also raised US$2 million in first-round venture capital funding from Toucan Capital Corp, a Bethesda, Md-based life sciences investment group in 2006.