(^12) FINANCE NEWS l BIOSPECTRUM | SEPTEMBER 2018 | http://www.biospectrumindia.com
Mitra RxDx (Mitra Biotech), a privately held biotech company
and global leader in advancing truly personalized oncology
treatment, recently announced the completion of a $40 million
financing round. The round was led by Northpond Ventures,
headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Existing investors
Accel, Sequoia Capital, Sands Capital Ventures, and RA Capital
Management also participated. Cumulative funding to date now
totals $76 million. Founded in 2010, Mitra is headquartered
in Greater Boston and maintains a significant research and
laboratory presence in Bengaluru, India. Mitra’s CANscript
platform delivers powerful, individualized treatment response
predictions — with exceptionally high correlation to clinical
outcomes — to inform patient-specific cancer treatment
selection and support more effective and efficient cancer
drug development. These funds will be used to expand the
company’s commercial efforts, while also continuing to build
the clinical evidence necessary to accelerate adoption and
secure reimbursement in the US and other key markets.
India’s drug maker firm Cipla Ltd has
agreed to acquire South Africa’s Mirren
(Pty) Ltd to strengthen its foothold in
the African nation. Mirren, set up in
1983, makes over-the-counter (OTC)
pharmaceutical products. It is South
Africa’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical
company in the private sector, and also
has presence in Namibia and Botswana.
According to Cipla, the transaction will
enhance Cipla’s OTC portfolio by adding
Mirren’s well-established brands such as
Bronco! cough syrup, Coryx, Tensopyn and
Ultimag. The deal will also increase Cipla’s
manufacturing footprint in Africa. The
drugmaker will acquire Mirren through
wholly owned unit Cipla Medpro South
Africa (Pty) Ltd. Medpro was previously
Cipla’s South African distribution partner.
The Asian Development
Bank (ADB) has agreed to
invest $10 million of equity
in DCDC Healthcare Services
Private Limited (DCDCPL), a
company providing dialysis and
ancillary services to end-stage
renal disease, to help enable
the establishment of critical
healthcare infrastructure in India
and Sri Lanka. ADB’s financing
will also include a $5 million
equity investment made on
behalf of Leading Asia’s Private
Infrastructure Fund (LEAP), one
of ADB’s co-financing vehicles
dedicated to private sector
infrastructure in Asia and the
Pacific. The Japan International
Cooperation Agency supports
LEAP, launched in August 2016,
through a $1.5 billion equity
commitment. The agreement
was signed by ADB Principal
Investment Specialist for Private
Sector Operations Mayank
Choudhary and DCDCPL’s
Founder and CEO Aseem Garg
at a ceremony in New Delhi.
DCDCPL offers dialysis care at its
public-private partnership (PPP)
centers in government hospitals,
along with its centers at private
hospitals and two standalone
clinics. It is the second largest
operator of PPP dialysis centers
in India. ADB’s investment will
allow the company to expand its
network to more than 180 centers
and increase its geographic
presence by covering more states
in India, as well as starting a
network of centers in Sri Lanka.
ADB will also assist DCDCPL
in capacity building, including
developing human resources,
improving systems and processes,
and standardizing care quality.
Asian Development Bank to invest in dialysis firm
Mitra Biotech completes
$40M financing round
Cipla to acquire
South African
drug firm for $33M
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