The new entity, BioDuro Biologics, will be headquartered in Singapore and is designed to leverage the antibody discovery platform created by Taijutu’s German biotech research partner MAB Discovery.
North Carolina, US-based PPD, which has invested $25m in the JV and holds a majority stake, said the move is intended to help it cater for the expanding biologics market, citing EvaluatePharma’s forecast that the sector will grow 7 per cent a year to 2016.
In a press statement PPD executive VP of lab services Lee Babiss suggested that: “Developing a best-in-class, innovative technology platform for the discovery of monoclonal antibodies allows us to continue to deliver highly valued discovery services for our clients in the growing area of large molecule drug discovery.”
Discovery investment
The investment fits with PPDs efforts to building its drug discovery services offering over the last few years, which began with its acquisition of Beijing, China-based BioDuro in November 2009.
More recently the contract research organisation (CRO) set up was it calls its vaccines and biologics centre of excellence and expanding laboratory capacity at a facility Wayne, Pennsylvania it acquired from Merck & Co.
The decision to base BioDuro Biologics in Singapore, which is well established as a global hub for development thanks to decades of infrastructure investment by successive governments, also fits the growth plan PPD has undertaken in recent years.
This began in December 2008 with the opening of a new research and development (R&D) laboratory the CRO said was designed to cater for growing demand from customers in Southeast Asia.
The following year PPD further built its presence with the creation of a second laboratory to provide analytical services for services for drug developers working in the country.