This is big news! MPM has followed an investment into SAI after Seqquoia's investment means that SAI is onto becoming an even more dominant player. The management of SAI has been strengthened lately and is one of the best and most professional. Kudos to Krishna and Dr. Ranga Raju!
“MPM Capital, the largest venture capital investor dedicated solely to healthcare, announced today that it has made a $20 million investment in Sai Advantium Pharma, a leading chemistry-driven drug discovery and development service company headquartered in Hyderabad, India. This is the first new capital investment in Sai Advantium, MPM Capital’s first investment in
, as well as one of the largest life sciences venture capital investments made in the country thus far. MPM Managing Director William Greene, M.D. is joining Sai Advantium’s Board of Directors. Sequoia Capital is an existing investor and also has representation on the company’s Board of Directors. India
According to
Greene, “We have been evaluating investment opportunities in Dr.
for some time, looking for quality management teams in the life sciences who are leading companies poised for dramatic growth. Sai Advantium stood out as a leader in one of the most exciting emerging areas for global biotech and pharma, namely the outsourcing of drug discovery and development support. We have been deeply impressed by the determination of the founders an senior management team to be the best in this critical space.” India
Greene added, “The company is adding capabilities and building an absolutely world class team of scientists who know how to develop complex molecules and who understand what pharma and biotech partners really need and want. Already a leader in servicing the small- and mid-size biotech community, the capital improvements, decision and customer support tools and capacity expansions made possible by this investment should position Sai as the preferred partner for global pharma players of any size.” Dr.
MPM indicated that it intends to help the company approach biotechnology companies in its own network as well as big pharma partners with which it has strong relationships. Several of its portfolio companies are already enthusiastic customers,
Greene noted. Dr.
He continued, “The pressure on global drug companies to increase productivity and reduce costs continues to escalate, and Sai is in a position to respond. In fact, analysts project that the global preclinical discovery and development outsourcing industry is poised to grow to $20 billion by 2010.”
Ranga Raju, Sai Advantium Chairman & CEO, said, “We are delighted to have an investor and partner with great domain expertise and investment success. They bring to us a great perspective on the emerging needs of our customer, willingness to work with us to build our range and depth of services and give us reach into great scientific leadership.” Dr.
Source: BusinessWire
Comments