Indian American firm inks $3.6-M deal with India's Alembic
Monday, 17 May 2004, 19:30 IST
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NEW YORK: Xechem International Inc., a biopharmaceutical company founded by Indian American Ramesh Pandey, has signed a $3.6-million funding deal with Baroda-based pharmaceutical major Alembic Ltd. Xechem, which manufactures pharmaceutical products using plants and herbs from Asia and Africa, has already received $640,000 from Alembic. The 97-year-old company in Gujarat has purchased some of Xechem's common stock at seven cents a share, the company said. The rest could be in the form of equity or convertible debt. The agreement also provides for Alembic to hold a 15 percent-stake in Xechem's Nigerian subsidiary, which will be responsible for the production and distribution of Nicosan/Hemoxin drug in Nigeria. The drug is used for treating sickle cell disease and currently there is no definitive safe therapeutic treatment for a majority of sickle cell anaemia patients, the company said. "Alembic's financial, technical and distribution strength will accelerate our ability to successfully launch Nicosan/Hemoxin first in Nigeria and surrounding countries where such conditions are a national priority," Pandey said. Subsequently, the drug will be launched in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asian countries, he added. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an orphan drug status to Hemoxin. When appropriate FDA regulatory approval is attained, after the US clinical trials, the sales will start immediately, the company said. In his 35-year experience in the biomedical science industry, Pandey has served with several universities, government agencies and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. He came to the United States from India in 1967 with a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry and spent three post-doctorate years at the University of Illinois. A holder of several patents, Pandey then joined the prestigious Frederick Cancer Research Centre of the National Cancer Institute, where he was a senior scientist and head of the chemistry section working on anti-cancer products. In 1983, he relocated to Abbott's pharmaceuticals development laboratories in North Chicago for a short while. One year later, he formed Xechem under a joint venture with and LyphoMed to basically produce a generic version of Eli Lilly's Vancomycin, whose patent had expired. In 1987, Xechem became a subsidiary of LyphoMed and three years later it split from the company when it was acquired by Fujisawa. The company went public on the Nasdaq in April 1994 and now has three subsidiaries - Xechem Laboratories, XetaPharm, and Xechem India.
Source: IANS
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