GVK Biosciences, India's premier contract research organisation, Saturday launched the GVK BIO Wyeth chemistry centre here for the US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, one of the largest drug manufacturing companies in the world. The built-to-suit research centre, which has come up at a cost of $10 million at Nacharam on the outskirts of the city, employs 200 synthetic chemists and scientists, working on cutting-edge research. The chemistry research centre has come up as part of the collaboration between Wyeth and GVK, which already covers 700 outsourcing projects valued at $40 million to $50 million.

Equipped with latest high-end scientific equipment and instrumentation, it is comparable to any international research centre. Robert Ruffolo, president, Wyeth Research, Saturday inaugurated the facility in the presence of David Hopper, consul general with the US consulate in Chennai, and G.V. Krishna Reddy, chairman of the GVK Group.

"Wyeth has a large discovery portfolio with at least two new drugs in a year, resulting in a growing need for strong medicinal chemistry. By working with GVK Bio as a partner, we are able to tap into the huge chemistry talent pool in India and to work globally on a 24-hour basis," said Ruffolo. "This partnership significantly increases our chemistry capacity and complements our already strong in-house synthetic chemistry efforts," he added.

"India is a very important country for us. We have two major partners in India and GVK is one of them," he said. "Out of 6,000 research and development works of Wyeth worldwide, 1,100 are in India. The laboratories here are better than what we have in the US. This is the best economy of scale we can achieve," said Ruffolo.

The two companies entered into a collaborative research agreement last year. Wyeth selected GVK from 80 companies short-listed after a global worldwide search for a suitable chemistry partner. GVK Bio, which started operations in 2001 and is the first venture of the GVK Group outside the infrastructure sector, was selected for the strength of its management team, research philosophy and expertise in the area of synthetic organic chemistry.

G.V. Sanjay Reddy, managing director of GVK Bio, told a media conference that the firm has proved capability and track record in delivering value-added scientific services on time. GVK Bio delivers integrated research services to big pharma and biotech companies globally. It accelerates the drug discovery and development process of its customers through sciences and innovation. With facilities in Hyderabad, Chennai and Gurgaon, it has 1,300 employees.

The company plans to strengthen its operations over the next five years with acquisitions in India and abroad. "We want to become a global leader in biosciences," said Sanjay Reddy, pointing out that GVK Bio was already working with nine out of 10 major pharmaceutical companies.

D.S. Brar, chairman of GVK Bio, said the company planned to raise Rs.1 billion through private equity to fund its development projects, which include a new state-of-the-art campus near the city to take care of existing and new services and an animal house.

The campus, to be spread over 25 acres, will come up in three phases over five years. In the first phase alone, the company plans to invest Rs.750 million to Rs.800 million.