Cipla, an India-based pharmaceutical company best known for producing low-cost AIDS drugs, plans to raise a new fund for its corporate venturing unit, Cipla New Ventures (CNV), Business Standard has reported.
CNV has generated interest from external investors but the legal structure of the new fund has not yet been finalised.
The unit has made four investments so far, in Stempeutics, Chase Pharma, MabPharma and BioMab, and is operating three incubators: Ciptec, Biologicals and Consumer Healthcare.
The fund would be a first for India, and would follow a growing investment ecosystem in the country following the formation in 2013 of a new angel investors’ group for the biotechnology industry called Biotech Angel Network.
While Delhi and Bangalore have witnessed a growing number of health and life sciences startups, corporate investors willing to take risks in research and development have been lacking. Cipla’s new fund will aim to change this reality.
“Our plan is to create a new business for Cipla with a size of today’s Cipla in the next 10 years,” said Chandru Chawla, who became head of CNV last year. “Cipla might act as anchor investor and bring outside investors or it might be a joint venture.”