ChrysCapital invests in Intas Pharmaceutical and Eris Lifesciences
ChrysCapital that manages $2.5 billion across six funds and aspires to be the leading investment firm in India has invested in two life sciences companies in India. While Eris Lifesciences is an Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical player with very strong focus on chronic therapy, IntasPharma is a formulations company with a diversified product portfolio focused on chronic segments such as gastro, cardiovascular and psychiatry.
Mr Sanjiv Kaul, managing director, ChrysCapital Advisors said, "The promoter of Eris Lifesciences, Mr Amit Bakshi, is a pharma veteran who has very inspiring. The company is light on manufacturing assets but very heavy on brand creation and promotion. ChrysCapital invested $43 million for a significant minority stake."

Mr Kaul said that Intas Pharmaceuticals is one of the top 10 pharmaceutical players in India growing at a CAGR of 30 percent over the last seven years since ChrysCapital made its first investment in late 2005.

Fidelity Growth Partners India invests in Laurus Labs and XCyton
Fidelity Growth Partners India (FGPI), the India-focused private equity arm of Fidelity Worldwide Investment, has invested in two bioscience firms in India recently. Laurus Labs is a company that develops and manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and XCyton is a diagnostics product company. Hyderabad-based Laurus, with a focus on anti-retroviral (HIV-AIDS), oncology and nutraceutical products, received $40 million (Rs200 crore).

Mr Raj Dugar, senior managing director at FIL Capital Advisors (India), the private equity advisory arm for FGPI, said, "We are very excited to partner with Dr Satyanarayana and his superb management team. In a short span of time, Laurus has established global leadership positions in its key product offerings and continues to drive innovation in its strong product pipeline of difficult-to-make molecules, which we believe will help it build a long-term defensible business."

XCyton Diagnostics received $4.5 million (Rs20 crore) from FGPI. "XCyton's SES technology platform has the potential to be truly disruptive to the current standard of care. We believe that the company's test service offerings can drive a paradigm shift in the diagnosis and treatment of critical care infections, not only in India but also overseas. We are excited to partner with Dr Ravi Kumar and his team in building one of the few innovation-driven life sciences companies in the country," added Mr Dugar.