The agreement will see Orion tap two of Jubilant’s subsidiaries for drug discovery services, namely Bangalore-based Jubilant Biosys and Noida-based Jubilant Chemsys.
The Finnish company said earlier this year it would revamp its research operation, with the loss of 205 R&D and operation staff as part of a cost-cutting and restructuring exercise.
In a statement, Jubilant Organosys said Orion will have the option of using resources from both the companies, as desired, depending on the nature of its research requirements.
Jubilant Biosys operates mainly at the biology end of the drug discovery spectrum, specialising in discovery and structural biology, ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) studies, toxicology, pharmacology, and molecular modelling.
Jubilant Chemsys focuses on providing medicinal chemistry services, such as drug design and synthesis, structure-activity relationship (SAR) support, scale-up of production and hit-to-lead optimisation efforts.
Jubilant Biosys’ chief executive Sri Mosur, said the company was working hard on developing this type of “creative partnering model” for its customers in the biopharmaceutical industry.
“Jubilant's flexible and hybrid platform of innovative discovery chemistry, biology and in silico services demonstrates its ability to customise and accelerate global drug discovery efforts,” he said.
A team of scientists from Jubilant Biosys and Chemsys will do research on Orion's projects at the two subsidiaries. The Finnish company specialises in drug discovery in central nervous system diseases, critical care, urology and cancer.
Antti Haapalinna, vice president of Orion said the aim of the contract is to “scale-up our drug discovery programmes with support from Jubilant's scientific team."