Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene International, India’s largest CRO, have extended their drug discovery and development collaboration in India for another five years. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
BMS has been working with Syngene and its parent company, Biocon, since 2007, to develop integrated capabilities in medicinal and process chemistry, biology, biotechnology, biomarkers, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, analytical research, and pharmaceutical development, at BMS’ Research Center (BBRC) in Bangalore.
 
To date, the collaboration has produced six drug candidates for development and has reduced BMS’ costs associated with advancing new compounds to first-in-human studies.
 
Peter Bains, director, Syngene International, said, “We are extremely delighted to extend our discovery and development partnership with BMS. This extension reflects the strength of our existing collaboration, which has delivered many successful outcomes. The scope of Syngene’s engagement has expanded to encompass a broad range of integrated service offerings across the drug discovery and development continuum. We remain committed to supporting Bristol-Myers Squibb in their pursuit of developing new and innovative medicines for the future.”
 
Francis Cuss, executive vice president and chief scientific officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, said, “I am excited about the opportunity to continue our highly productive collaboration with Biocon and Syngene. The BBRC has supported the nonclinical development of a large proportion of our small-molecule portfolio assets since its inception, and is a premier example of the high-quality innovative drug hunting that is taking place in India today.”