Indian CDMO Aragen Life Sciences has secured a $100 million investment from Singapore-headquartered private equity firm Quadria Capital.
Aragen will use the investment to expand its facilities to meet growing demand from US and European customers for its discovery and manufacturing capabilities, CEO Manni Kantipudi said in a Monday press release. No further details were given. Aragen has six locations in India as well as sales offices in Tokyo, Japan and South Korea.
Quadria will get a minority stake in the manufacturer, valued at around $1.4 billion, according to the release. The private equity firm will be the second investor in Aragen, following Goldman Sachs who
invested
in May 2021. Quadria has invested in other CDMOs previously, including Indian-based Akums Drugs and Encube Ethicals, as well as Malaysia-based Straits Orthopaedics.
Indian CDMOs have seen an
uptick in demand
over the last year following the introduction of the Biosecure Act, which has forced pharma companies to
consider switching
from their Chinese suppliers to other alternatives. The bill has yet to be made law and was
left out
of the National Defense Authorization Act at the end of 2024.
Other Indian companies are still jumping on the possibility, with drugmaker Anthem Biosciences announcing its
34 billion rupee ($397 million) IPO
last week. Indian CDMO Syngene similarly announced an
expansion of its biologics facility
last year following the introduction of Biosecure. Other larger CDMOs like
Lonza are also expanding
their footprint in the country.
Yet, some manufacturers think it’ll
still be some time
before Indian service providers start to reap the financial rewards from the Biosecure Act.
