Bangalore: Taconic, a leading provider of life sciences solutions, and Vivo Bio Tech, a full-service contract research organization, have entered into an agreement under which Vivo Bio Tech will gain rights to breed and distribute select Taconic mouse and rat models in India. Through this arrangement, the two companies will greatly improve the availability of high-quality animals for biomedical research in India.

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry in India is growing at an estimated rate of 12 percent and 20 percent annually, through a combination of new in-house drug development projects and collaboration with western companies, making it a hub for biomedical innovation. The Indian CRO industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 31 percent to reach $3 billion by the year 2015.

"One of the greatest obstacles to drug discovery in the region is the lack of a local supply of quality laboratory animals," said Mr Todd Little, Taconic president and CEO. "Together, Taconic and Vivo Bio Tech will address that challenge by significantly improving investigators' access to animal models that are proven to be highly valuable to biomedical research, yet unavailable in the local market."

"With access to high-quality lab animal models from a world leader in the field, Vivo Bio Tech is poised to become the preferred provider of research animal models and contract research services in the rapidly growing pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets in India," said Dr A Sankaranarayanan, chief executive officer, Vivo Bio Tech.

Vivo Bio Tech will breed and distribute select Taconic animal models, including a variety of inbred and outbred mice and rats, as well as the proprietary Taconic Knockout Repository of more than 4,000 knockout lines.

"The Taconic Knockout Repository eliminates the time traditionally required for model design and development, which can speed drug development for investigators in the region," Mr Little said. The agreement gives the Indian pharmaceutical and biotech research community access to Taconic's advanced scientific services, including model derivation, cryopreservation, genotyping, health assessment, and custom model generation.

All local breeding will be done at Vivo Bio Tech's 125,000-square-foot pre-clinical research facility in Andhra Pradesh, India. The facility is accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care and registered with Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals for breeding and commercialization of Murine Pathogen Free (MPF) animals. Throughout the breeding process, Vivo Bio Tech's highly qualified and well-trained staff will follow Taconic's rigorous standard operating procedures to ensure quality and integrity.