Malaysia - India’s Pharmaceuticals Giant To Open Biotech Lab And Factory In Iskandar By End 2014

March 21, 2013

Leading Indian pharmaceuticals firm Agila Biotech has signed an agreement with Bio-XCell to launch a multi-use facility in Iskandar by 2014.



In the country’s quest to bring the country up the economic chain into high-value technology, Iskandar Malaysia’s biotech park, Bio-XCell, has committed India’s Agila Biotech to opening a facility there.

Agila Biotech (Malaysia) is a subsidiary of Bangalore’s Strides Arcolab Ltd, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of soft gelatin capsules and other pharmaceuticals.

In a recent signing of an agreement to build the facility, Agila Biotech (Malaysia)’s CEO Dr Anand Iyer promised to establish a range of projects in the special economic zone.

These include end-to-end manufacturing of biologics, developing biomolecules, manufacturing mammalian cell culture, microbial fermentation, and the production of recombinant monoclonal antibodies and recombinant therapeutic proteins, among others.

In the agreement, Malaysian Bio-XCell Sdn Bhd, which is owned by the government’s Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation and property developer UEM Land Bhd, will build the customised facility at a cost of RM67.3mil. This building will then be leased to Agila Biotech. All other related state-of-the-art equipment, integration service and testing of this turnkey project will be funded by Agila Biotech (Malaysia).

Both parties are aiming for the R&D and manufacturing facilities to be operational by end 2014.

Other multinational companies to set up in Bio-XCell are Biocon from India, MetEx from France and Glycos Biotechnologies from US.

- Star Property

Tags: Malaysia, Johor, Iskandar, Bio-XCell, Agila Biotech