Piramal Lifesciences plans a Rs 200-crore boost for drug discovery research

Piramal Life has a drug discovery pipeline comprising 14 molecules

Piramal Lifesciences, the recently spun off drug research arm of India’s leading generic company Piramal Healthcare, plans to give a boost of Rs 200 crore in way of investment in the in the next two years for discovery and development of new drugs.

Piramal Lifesciences, which was formed in 2008, posted a loss of Rs 31 crore for the quarter ended September 30 against a revenue of Rs 3 crore.

Piramal Healthcare plans to raise about 90% of the proposed investment of Rs 200 for the next two years through debt.

“Annually, we invest about Rs 100 crore. About 90% of the Rs 200 funding for the next two years will be raised through debt, ” Dr Swati Piramal, director at the Piramal Group was quoted as saying.

Costs developing new drugs are estimated to be over $1 billion and a new molecule could would require around 10-12 years to reach markets from the time of discovery.

However, cost of developing new drugs are rather low in India compared to western countries due to the abundance of patient population and cheaper but skilled workforce.

Piramal Lifesciences’s strategy is to develop upto proof-of-concept studies and then licence out to interested global pharma companies.

Piramal Lifescience’s drug discovery research, which includes fourteen compounds, is focused on four therapeutic areas – cancer, diabetes, inflammation and infectious diseases.

Piramal Life’s four molecules are in different stages of clinical trials, currently.

Piramal Life’s lead chemical compound, a Cdk-4 inhibitor, has completed two phase studies and is being tested in another phase I/II trials for multiple myeloma.

Piramal Life’s cancer molecule P276 for pancreatic, and head and neck cancer has recently received regulatory approval by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for the initiation of two phase-I/II combination studies.

P276 is an inhibitor of key enzymes involved in the uncontrolled division and multiplication of cancer cells. It is being developed for the treatment of cancers for which there are inadequate treatment options. Multiple phase II, and Phase I/II trials are ongoing in USA, and India.

Piramal life started phase II trial of P 276 in USA in January to treat Mantle cell Lymphoma (MCL) and it is the second IND approved by the US FDA for this compound.

P-1446A-05, another cancer compound from Piramal Life Sciences Limited is currently in phase-I study in India. P-1446A-05 is an orally active molecule being developed for the treatment of cancer. P-1446A-05 is an inhibitor of key enzymes involved in the uncontrolled division and multiplication of cancer cells.

In August Piramal Life Sciences announced the completion of a phase I study of a new, orally active glucoselowering compound, P1736, in The Netherlands. P1736 is a non-PPARgamma insulin sensitizing compound and is being developed for the treatment of Type II diabetes. In the phase I trial single and multiple ascending dose studies were conducted in 30 and 22 healthy volunteers respectively, in The Netherlands.
Piramal Healthcare, has presented safety and efficacy data of its new anti-bacterial molecule PM181104 to treat multi-drug resistant infections.

In September, Piramal Life sciences presented the preclinical pharmacological data pertaining to a novel injectable antibiotic named PM181104 discovered and developed in house at the 49th Scientific Session of Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) being convened at San Francisco, California, USA.

Piramal Life Science’s novel injectable antibiotic PM181104 is a peptide molecule derived from a marine sponge-associated microorganism. This particular marine sponge was obtained from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) under an ongoing collaboration between Piramal Life Sciences, and NIO.

Piramal Life has a diverse collection of natural product extracts from microbes and plants from rare habitats in India. Discovery efforts are also directed towards evaluating and investigating medicinal extracts and preparations from herbs and plants used by tribals and cited in ancient ayurvedic texts.

Piramal Life has drug discovery and developments agreements with Eli Lilly & Company and Merck & Company.

Piramal Life Sciences commenced phase I trial of a new experimental drug molecule P2202 for diabetes-metabolic syndrome in Canada in May. P2202 is the second compound from Eli Lilly & Co. (USA) and is part of the collaborative agreement between the two companies and is being developed for diabetes-metabolic syndrome.

Piramal Life Sciences Limited is an independent research-driven drug company that was recently demerged from Piramal Healthcare Limited (Formerly know as Nicholas Piramal India Limited). PLSL was formerly the NCE R&D division of NPIL