India's Tata group-promoted Advinus Pharma has entered into a joint drug discovery deal with Japanese pharma giant Takeda Pharma, indicating multinational companies growing interest in Indian drug research, a senior company official said Monday.

"We are very excited to partner with Advinus as they have innovative approaches to efficiently generate INDs (investigation new drug) that will further strengthen Takeda's drug discovery capabilities, while also enhancing our pipeline," said Paul Chapman, general manager of pharmaceutical research division of Takeda.

Advinus will receive guaranteed funding of 36 million U.S. dollars from Takeda to explore novel molecules in the areas of an inflammatory disease, central nervous system and metabolic diseases. The research will be spread over three years, and may expand further.

It will also receive 9 million U.S. dollars in milestone payment leading to candidate selection, apart from milestone payments of up to 45 million U.S. dollars per product, plus royalties on product sales worldwide.

"This deal is an indication that global pharma majors do not see India as a mere contract research destination," said Rashmi Barbhaiya, MD, Advinus Pharma. "The technological capabilities differentiate us from China," she added. Endi

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