Aptuit invests USD 100m in Laurus Labs

Global contract drug development firm Aptuit and India-based Laurus Labs have formed a contract drug development company, Aptuit Laurus, in India.

Aptuit says it will invest over USD 100m over the next four years to ensure the development of Aptuit Laurus' manufacturing and informatics capabilities.

The new company will combine Aptuit's global offerings in drug development with Laurus' R&D and manufacturing expertise and newly built facilities to provide established and emerging pharmaceutical companies with integrated services, technologies and manufacturing capabilities that span the entire drug development lifecycle.

Aptuit Laurus will be based in Hyderabad with additional facilities in Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore and will initially provide services to clients in early-stage drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, lead optimisation, process development, scale-up and process optimisation, safety and hazard assessment, formulation development and analytical chemistry.

The new company will comprise Laurus' newly-established 14,864.5 square-metre R&D facility in Hyderabad, which already employs over 200 scientific personnel. It will also include Laurus' large-scale manufacturing plant, which is currently under construction on over 13.8 hectares of land in Pharma City, Vishakhapatnam. The new firm will also use Aptuit's existing Informatics Development and Support group of 100 employees in Bangalore.