Galapagos expands chemistry service via Indian firms

Mechelen, Belgium-based Galapagos NV, a genomics-based drug discovery company, says that its service division, BioFocus DPI, has signed collaborations with Indus Biosciences, a subsidiary of CiVentiChem in Hyderabad, and ProCitius, a division of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals in Chennai, both Indian providers of integrated chemistry services to life sciences companies. Both firms will carry out chemistry services for the BioFocus DPI Discovery Products division, with an option to provide support for client projects conducted by the BioFocus DPI Medicinal Chemistry division.

India offers chemistry capabilities with a large resource pool of qualified chemists, says Galapagos, adding that many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies either have established their own facilities in India, or outsourced part of their chemistry to India-based contract research organizations. This outsourcing enables BioFocus DPI and its partners to benefit from the excellent cost-effective chemistry services available on the Indian sub-continent, while also enabling its clients to outsource work into Indus BioSciences and Sanmar under the management of BioFocus DPI scientists, the Belgian firm states.