India is teeming with biotech businesses and has a youthful, educated workforce. Here is a quick look at some of the private biotechnology companies in India that have recently caught the attention of investors. India is a major player in the global biotechnology market in addition to its long-standing reputation for having sizable IT, pharmaceutical, and vaccine manufacturing industries. More than 4,000 of the country’s 5,000 biotech businesses are startups. By 2024, 10,000 startups are anticipated to exist.
India has numerous factors that will contribute to the growth of its biotech enterprises in the upcoming years, including a sizable population of young and skilled workers. There is a significant potential for producing breakthroughs in healthcare when a sizable patient pool for lifestyle-related disorders like type 2 diabetes is included. We’ve compiled a ranking of the hottest private biotech startups in India by looking at those that have successfully raised capital in recent years. These businesses, which have their main offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru, are engaged in cutting-edge healthcare research.
Bugworks
Bugworks has locations across the United States, Australia, and India, as well as a base for research and development. The business develops antibiotics with the goal of addressing the escalating antimicrobial resistance challenge. The leading antibiotic candidate from Bugworks inhibits the replication apparatus of invasive bacteria. Additionally, the medication is made to avoid the natural defences that bacteria have against it, which may make it more difficult for some strains to develop resistance.
The business is collaborating with the nonprofit organisations CARB-X and the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership to test its antibiotic in phase 1 trials for the treatment of multi-drug resistant illnesses (GARDP). An $18 million Series B1 deal closed in February 2022 is helping Bugworks finance its research into antibiotics. Additionally, Bugworks will utilise the money to support preclinical research for the development of dual-acting cancer treatment. Undoubtedly, it is one of the top biotechnology companies in India today.
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Epigeneres Biotech Private Limited
In January 2022, a $6 million Series B fundraising deal for Epigeneres Biotech made headlines. The money will be used by the Indian biotech company to develop a variety of new technologies for its arsenals, such as cancer diagnostics, drugs based on nanotechnology, and nutraceuticals. Epigeneres has recently focused on cancer detection. The business partnered with Tzar Labs in Singapore in 2021 to create cancer diagnostics that check for telltale RNA molecules from tumours at the beginning of the disease. The technology will be used by Epigeneres to establish a screening service in India.
For the treatment of ailments ranging from infertility to autoimmune illnesses to renal failure, Epigeneres is also working on nucleic acid medications. To improve the drug delivery to the target cells, the company employs a type of nanotechnology. In addition, Epigeneres is developing small-molecule medications that, when used in regenerative medicine, can boost the number of stem cells in the body. This is one of the top biotechnology companies in India due to its constant innovation & research-oriented work.
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Eyestem
The $6.4 million Series A round of funding for Eyestem was completed in August 2022, no doubt it is in our list of top biotechnology companies in India. A flagship therapy for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration is being developed by the Indian biotech start-up for the treatment of eye illnesses (dry AMD). For dry AMD, there is no cure at the moment. Cellular debris that builds up in the eye of patients suffering from the disorder causes the retina to swell and become destructively inflamed. This causes the layer of cells that supports the photosensitive cells we need to see, the retinal pigment epithelium, to disappear.
To replace the destroyed retinal pigment epithelium, Eyestem is developing an over-the-counter stem cell therapy. The biotech has set aside money from its most recent Series A round to get its cell treatment ready for early-stage clinical trials.
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Immuneel Therapeutics Private Limited
In the field of autologous CAR-T cell treatment, Immuneel Therapeutics is causing a stir by harvesting immune T cells from patients, engineering them in the lab to destroy blood cancer cells, and then reinfusing them back into the patient. The reason why it is one of the top biotechnology companies in India is because of the groundbreaking outputs it delivered in recent years. There are currently only the richest nations that have access to the complex, pricey CAR-T therapies that are already available.
It is Immuneel’s goal to create CAR-T treatments that are both accessible and cheap in India. The business completed a $15 million Series A round of funding in June 2022 to fund this initiative. The treatments in Immuneel’s pipeline are intended for patients with both adult and pediatric blood cancers. In what it claims to be the first industry-sponsored CAR-T trial in India, Immuneel began a phase 2 trial of a CAR-T therapy as the Indian biotech closed its Series A financing.
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MedGenome
With locations all over the world, MedGenome concentrates a significant portion of its activities and genetic testing in India. The business offers biopharma clients genomics-focused research and diagnostics services that can aid in the creation of medications to treat cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, and eye disorders. The company collaborates with more than 500 hospitals in India to give a big dataset.
In August 2022, MedGenome secured a $50 million funding round lead by Novo Holdings, one of the largest biotech investments in the Asia-Pacific area making it one of the largest biotechnology companies in India today. The money will be used to expand access to genetic testing in developing nations, which have lagged behind more developed nations in this regard.
As part of its mission to gather genetic information from a variety of Asian ethnicities, MedGenome also hopes to uncover a wealth of clinical knowledge about genes that are connected to the disease. In line with this goal, the business founded the GenomeAsia 100K initiative, which will study the genomes of 100,000 individuals from various Asian communities in order to hasten the spread of precision medicine in this region of the world.
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Wockhardt
Wockhardt Ltd. was founded in the year 1960 and has its corporate headquarters in Mumbai, India. It is one of the most popular biotechnology companies in India. The company, which was started entirely privately by its founders in the US and the EU and has a 76% revenue sales rate, has also managed to gain a firm foothold on the Indian market and has been successful in doing so. To move up the list of top biotechnology businesses, the corporation plans to wage a fierce battle against its rivals in the upcoming years.
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