India's Biocon reported a huge fiscal year for its CRO arm, growing 36% over the previous year and becoming the largest clinical research provider in the country, the company said.
Syngene, Biocon's research unit, pulled in about $102.7 million on the year, growth the company attributes to investments and acquisitions that have spread its reach across India. Biocon's CRO business boasts 90 life sciences clients including 16 of the top 20 drugmakers in the world, Syngene Director Peter Bains said, and the company plans to keep up the momentum in FY14.
"Our strategy has been to expand our discovery and development capabilities in small molecules and biologics, enabling us to offer more integrated and value added services to our customers," Bains said in a statement. "Our growth reflects a strong mix of retained and expanded clientele as well as the addition of important new customers across all our major platforms."
Back in November, Biocon revealed that it is considering an IPO for Syngene, possibly in the next fiscal year. GE Healthcare ($GE) bought a 7.7% stake in the CRO for $23 million, valuing Syngene at about $300 million. That's the last we've heard about the plans to go public, though, and Biocon made no mention of the effort in its annual report.
The CRO has a solid record of big-name partnerships, including deals with Abbott Laboratories ($ABT) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY).
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