Straits Orthopaedics

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.

Hyderabad: A Contract Research Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), Aragen announced that it has secured a $100 million investment from Quadria Capital , an Asia healthcare-focused Private Equity fund, in exchange for a minority stake in the company. This funding will support Aragen’s strategic expansion of its capabilities and infrastructure, enabling the company to meet the growing demand for outsourcing services from innovators in the US and Europe, the company said. The investment will result in Quadria acquiring a minority stake in Aragen, at an approximate valuation of USD 1.4 bn, primarily through a fresh capital infusion, with a small portion from the sale of shares by existing investors, it added. Before this acquisition Quadria had also invested in other drug manufacturers like Akums Drugs, Encube Ethicals (India-based topicals focused CDMO) and Straits Orthopedics (Malaysia-based CDMO for orthopedic medical devices). “The pharmaceutical outsourcing sector presents compelling growth opportunities, especially in the current environment which is driven by global supply chain reorganisation, “Dr. Amit Varma, managing partner and co-founder, Quadria Capital, said, With this investment, Quadria joins Goldman Sachs as the second strategic investor in Aragen and the CDMO is also looking to secure additional outsourcing partnerships at the ongoing JP Morgan annual Healthcare Conference, a platform used by life sciences and pharma companies to attract various kinds of fundings. By Online Bureau ,