Pharma News 061104, 071104 & 081104:

Headlines: HC clears Matrix Labs merger proposal

Source: Business Line

MATRIX Laboratories Ltd (MLL), the city-based pharmaceutical major, has informed the stock exchanges on Friday that the Andhra Pradesh High Court has sanctioned the scheme of arrangement for amalgamation amongst Vera Laboratories Ltd, Fine Drugs and Chemicals Ltd (Fine Drugs), Medikon Laboratories Ltd and Calibre Engineering Pvt Ltd (transferor companies) with the company vide court order dated October 13.

Of these four transferor companies, Fine Drugs is the only listed one on BSE.

The MLL board of directors at its meeting held on October 26 has fixed December 1 as record date for the purpose of ascertaining the eligibility of shareholders to receive the shares of Matrix in exchange of shares held by them in Fine Drugs. Matrix would issue and allot to the Fine Drugs shareholders for every 25 equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each credited as fully paid-up held by them, one equity share of face value of Rs 10 each as fully paid-up in the capital of the company.


Headlines: IFC set to invest $4 m in AP venture fund

Source: Financial Express

International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of World Bank, will be investing $4 million in APIDC Venture Capital Ltd (APIDC-VCL), a joint venture between Ventureast and AP Industrial Development Corporation (APIDC), for the latter's biotech fund - a corpus to invest and fund biotech companies.

According to sources close to the development, IFC is close to finalising the deal and expects to pick up a substantial stake in APIDC-VCL. IFC is said to be waiting for its board's approval which is expected to take place at the earliest, the sources added.

The proposed investment would enable the investment institution to ensure best international practices in fund structuring, particularly in the area of biotechnology, apart from providing capital, strategic, financial, operational and technical expertise to those companies which will be funded.

When contacted, APIDC-VCL managing director Sarath Naru while confirming the development told eFE that the "deal is expected to be finalised soon." He, however, refused to disclose the exact stake IFC will take in APIDC-VCL.

According to Mr Naru, the company has been raising funds from various financial institutions and banks for the last few months. So far, it has raised over Rs 105 crore from institutions like LIC, GIC, Nabard and banks such as Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda. The company is looking at a fund size of Rs 150 crore, to invest in a number of companies on a long-term basis, Mr Naru added.

Though the company has raised a huge amount, it has invested only a very small portion of the amount in the biotechnology area. However, the company has decided to invest in many biotech companies as an outcome of a series of meetings on strategic investments recently.

"We have investment commitments of up to Rs 30 crore, to be invested in seven companies in the biotechnology sector and hope to complete the deals in the next few months," Mr Naru said. These companies are involved in biofuel, genetically modified crops, ayurvedic medicine, pharma, new generation antibiotic production and drug discovery areas, he added.

According to Mr Naru, the company has changed its investment strategy by directly incubating potential entrepreneurs in the biotech area. "We have tied up with the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) to provide skills and training in the areas of management, finance, business strategy, marketing and in technology, to enable them to become able tech entrepreneurs," he said.

The company has also decided to undertake joint projects in the areas of healthcare, water resource management and life sciences in association with ASCI.

Mr Naru said that APIDC-VCL has also tied up with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to seek expertise on bioscience, biochemicals and genetic modification to help its portfolio companies develop new technologies and new products in the biotech sector.

APIDC-VCL is working with CSIR institutes such as CCMB, IICT, CDFD to commercialise the patents by marketing them in a big way while extending the licences of their patents to portfolio companies, Mr Naru said further.