Graph AI Raises $3M to Automate Drug Safety with Context-Aware Intelligence

Graph AI, a California-based AI life sciences company focused on patient safety and pharmacovigilance, announced the close of its $3 million Seed round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The investment will enable Graph AI to accelerate product innovation, expand its engineering team, and drive global market adoption.

Graph stands out as a prime example of the new wave of AI-native challengers reshaping the pharma and life sciences landscape, with a sharp focus on the $8 billion pharmacovigilance market. Pharmacovigilance, mandated by global drug regulatory authorities, requires pharmaceutical companies to continuously monitor, detect, and report adverse drug events (ADE) across a drug’s entire lifecycle, from clinical trials to post-market use, ensuring patient safety and regulatory compliance.

Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally relied on large service firms to manually extract and process data from a wide range of unstructured sources, call center transcripts, legal filings, medical literature, emails, and even social media posts. These firms employ vast teams of pharmacology graduates who sift through hundreds of thousands of documents to assess the causality of ADEs, prepare and submit regulatory reports across multiple jurisdictions, and recommend follow-up actions. The existing workflows are highly fragmented, labor-intensive, and reactive, resulting in operational silos that slow down case processing, signal detection, regulatory reporting, and overall compliance.

The company’s flagship platform, Graph Safety, is redefining pharmacovigilance through context-aware artificial intelligence and intelligent automation, delivering a truly end-to-end safety solution. Already deployed with leading enterprise customers, Graph Safety automates key processes including ADE case processing, signal detection, aggregate reporting, and regulatory compliance, while building a centralized safety intelligence database over time.

By keeping a human-in-the-loop only for select regulatory-mandated steps, Graph enables pharmaceutical companies to transition from manual, error-prone, and time-intensive workflows to highly automated, AI-driven systems that enhance the efficiency and accuracy of medical reviews while ensuring full regulatory compliance.

Founded in 2024, Graph AI is led by Raghav Parvataraju (CEO), Vijay Ponukumati (CTO), Mohan Konyala (CPO), and Ashutosh Bordekar (CFO), industry veterans with significant experience across leading global organizations including LTI Mindtree, Infosys, ServiceNow, Google and Cisco. Their deep expertise in technology, outsourcing, and enterprise operations has been instrumental in shaping Graph’s vision to transform pharmacovigilance through AI-driven innovation.

In just over a year since its inception, Graph AI has delivered remarkable traction and tangible results. Its proprietary AI models demonstrate exceptional accuracy, ensuring consistent classification and complete data extraction from both structured and unstructured sources. Enterprise customers have reported up to 70% efficiency gains, 90% faster regulatory reporting, and substantial cost savings all while maintaining end-to-end traceability and audit readiness. Today, Graph’s platform has built a strong pipeline across more than 7,000 marketed drugs, reflecting growing demand from enterprise customers and the expanding scope of pharmacovigilance modernization.

In a joint statement, the founders said: “The life sciences industry continues to grapple with outdated technology, fragmented point solutions, data silos, and manual handoffs that hinder decision-making and elevate compliance risks. At Graph AI, we’re addressing these challenges with a unified, AI-native safety platform that integrates context, compliance, and intelligence into a single seamless ecosystem. Our vision is to make patient safety smarter, faster, and more connected, empowering pharmaceutical and biotech enterprises to achieve safer outcomes, stronger regulatory confidence, and exponential efficiency across safety operations.”

Nithin Kaimal, Partner and COO at Bessemer Venture Partners India, said: “We’re excited to partner with Graph AI as they redefine labour intensive and inefficient pharmacovigilance workflows through AI-native solutions that prioritize both accuracy and scalability. At Bessemer, we’re deeply optimistic about the transformative potential of AI products to reimagine traditional services models as for the first time, delivery is shifting from labour arbitrage to intelligence arbitrage, empowering enterprises to work with firms that deliver faster, smarter, and more adaptive solutions. We look forward to supporting the Graph team as they continue to scale new heights.”

Life Sciences Leaders Reimagine AI-Powered Commercialization at Indegene Digital Summit 2025

Senior life sciences executives convene at the Indegene Digital Summit 2025 to explore how AI is transforming commercialization. The invite-only event at Philadelphia’s iconic Barnes Foundation features global experts sharing real-world insights and showcases programs delivering measurable impact.

Now in its 7th edition, Indegene Digital Summit is a flagship thought leadership platform for the life sciences industry, facilitating dialogue among senior executives, regulators, and digital innovators. This year’s theme, “From Chaos to Clarity - and Better Decisions”, focused on delivering tangible value beyond the hype of Generative AI (GenAI).

Industry leaders share how they are transforming commercial operations, advancing technology initiatives, and rethinking strategy to drive greater impact. Executives engage in wide-ranging yet practical discussions on data unification across the value chain, agent-augmented workforce, GenAI in commercial operations, evolving pharma regulations, zero-rep commercial models, and the future of customer engagement, among others.

The Vital Awards: Recognizing Leaders Shaping the Future of Life Sciences

At the Summit, the Vital Awards celebrates life sciences professionals at the forefront of scientific and technological convergence - who embody bold thinking, transformative work, and an unwavering pursuit of progress to define the future of healthcare. The awards honor innovation and impact across 4 categories:

1. Patient Impact: Leaders engaging, supporting, and empowering patients through innovative treatments, campaigns, or programs.
2. Community Impact: Leaders contributing knowledge, leadership, and action to benefit underserved groups, healthcare professionals, not-for-profits, academia, and the broader ecosystem.
3. Organizational Impact: Leaders transforming organizations through bold and innovative use of data, technology adoption, and fostering collaboration.
4. Market Impact: Leaders driving measurable market success through innovative launch strategies, go-to-market models, and operational excellence.

All nominations underwent a rigorous evaluation by a distinguished, cross-disciplinary jury comprising senior leaders from industry, academia, policy, media, and analyst domains of the life sciences ecosystem. The jury included:

• Chris Lee, VP-Regulatory Affairs Innovation and Strategic Operations, Gilead Sciences
• Dr. David Shulkin, Ninth Secretary, US Department of Veterans Affairs
• Jameson Fleming, Editor-in-Chief, MM+M
• Jill DeSimone, Former President-US Oncology, Merck
• Navneet Puri, Founder & Board Member, Nevakar
• Dr. Nimita Limaye, VP-Research, Life Sciences, IDC
• Dr. Rajesh Nair, President, Indegene, Inc.
• Reynold Panettieri, Vice Chancellor, Rutgers University, and,
• Tanya Monga, SVP-Global Commercial Strategy and Operations, Gilead Sciences

Their combined expertise and diverse perspectives selected honorees based on innovation, measurable impact, and leadership excellence across the life sciences ecosystem.

Vital Awards 2025 Honorees

• Patient Impact: Sunil Verma, SVP, Global Head, Oncology Franchise, AstraZeneca
• Organizational Impact: Nathan Bowmaker, Head of Global Commercial Operations, AstraZeneca; and Catherine Galvin, VP, Global Marketing Digital & AI Business Transformation, Merck
• Market Impact: Marion Dumas, Global Head of Omnichannel, Sanofi

Speaking on the occasion, Manish Gupta, Chairman and CEO, Indegene, said, “Many congratulations to all the honorees. Your innovation and impact are helping our industry shift growth trajectories and become future-ready, inspiring the broader ecosystem to redefine what’s possible. I also want to thank our eminent jury for recognizing leaders whose breakthroughs continue to push the boundaries.”

Indegene Digital Summit is a #FutureReadyHealthcare initiative, orchestrated by Indegene.

For live updates, follow #FutureReadyHealthcare on LinkedIn.

With deep conversations sans sales pitches, the summit continues to facilitate an open exchange of ideas, encourage collaboration, and promote thought leadership. For the session recordings, summaries and more, visit: https://digitalsummit.indegene.com/

Lightspeed Leads $2.7 Mn Seed for LogicFlo AI to Scale Enterprise AI in Biotech & Pharma

LogicFlo AI, a Boston-based AI platform designed specifically for the life sciences sector, has raised $2.7 million in a seed round led by Lightspeed, with participation from leading healthcare and enterprise AI investors. The funding will support LogicFlo AI’s global expansion across pharmaceutical, biotech, and medtech organizations, and enable deeper deployment with global clients, including a Fortune 500 company already under contract.

Founded by Udith Vaidyanathan and Arun Ramakrishnan, the company is redefining how regulated scientific work is done by replacing fragmented tools and repetitive processes with intelligent AI agents that work under human guidance. Across regulatory affairs, medical writing, quality assurance, and medical information teams, LogicFlo AI enables experts to complete high-compliance workflows in a fraction of the time, without sacrificing accuracy or oversight.

The platform is already in production across several global life sciences companies, with early deployments showing transformative results: medical writing timelines reduced from weeks to minutes, and medical information response times cut from nearly two weeks to just two days. With growing demand and expanding agent libraries, LogicFlo AI is emerging as a foundational layer for regulated enterprises, redefining how complex scientific knowledge work is executed at scale.

Udith Vaidyanathan, LogicFlo AI's co-founder and CEO, talking about the platform said, “We are at a once-in-a-generation inflection point. For the first time, AI agents are capable enough to drive meaningful productivity gains in regulated scientific work, not just possible, but inevitable. While the rest of the world is focused on automation, instead of people, we are building automation for people. LogicFlo AI puts experts firmly at the center. The goal is to empower the brightest people in life sciences do what only they can do - drive medical science forward and help elevate the standard of care.”

“Traditional automation has failed life sciences because it's too rigid, too brittle, and too out of touch with how people actually work,” explained Arun Ramakrishnan, LogicFlo AI’s co-founder and CTO. “LogicFlo AI agents are different. They're intelligent, composable, production-ready, and they understand the nuance of scientific work."

Rohil Bagga, VP Investments, Lightspeed, said, "We're thrilled to back LogicFlo AI as they revolutionize how life sciences and biotech organizations operate. Their AI agent platform empowers medical affairs and commercial teams to build agentic workflows across diverse use cases, dramatically boosting productivity. Founders Udith and Arun combine deep domain expertise with exceptional technical acumen—we're excited to support them as they drive transformation in one of the world’s most critical industries."

With the new funding, LogicFlo AI will accelerate product development, expand integrations with life sciences systems like Veeva and IQVIA, and grow its go-to-market and technical teams to meet rising industry demand. The company's broader vision is to redefine how scientific work happens, empowering every expert with tools that match the speed and complexity of modern science.

About LogicFlo AI

LogicFlo AI is an AI agent platform purpose-built for life sciences organizations — designed to help expert teams in medical, regulatory, quality, and commercial functions execute high-stakes work faster, more accurately, and in full compliance.

Born at Harvard. Built by life sciences insiders. Backed by bleeding-edge AI. LogicFlo AI is not just building tools — it’s building a new operating model for the future of scientific work.

LogicFlo AI's agents support functions across the entire life sciences value chain: medical writing with literature-based content creation and full referencing; Medical communications and information response generation with SR documents, material for ad boards, congresses, journal articles, commercial content creation with compliant promotional materials and MLR workflow management; regulatory authoring for CTAs, INDs, and safety narratives; quality and compliance documentation including SOPs, deviation reports, and CAPAs and so on.

For more information please visit https://logicflo.ai/ or follow via LinkedIn.

Siemens Acquires Life Sciences R&D Software Provider Dotmatics for $5.1 Bn

Siemens has announced that it has officially signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dotmatics for $5.1 billion, marking a major expansion into AI-powered Life Sciences R&D Software.

Dotmatics, a Boston-based company, specializes in multi-modal data management and scientific intelligence platforms, which will now integrate with Siemens' Digital Twin technology to accelerate drug development and research.

This acquisition aligns with Siemens' ONE Tech Company growth program, reinforcing its leadership in industrial software and expanding its AI-driven Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) portfolio. The deal is being financed primarily through **the sale of shares in listed companies, including Siemens Healthineers.

This acquisition could significantly impact scientific innovation and industrial AI applications.

“The acquisition of Dotmatics drives strong revenue synergies and is highly profitable and cash generative. Financing will be provided primarily through the sale of shares in listed companies, including Siemens Healthineers,” said Ralf P. Thomas, CFO of Siemens AG.

“Following an exciting journey with Insight Partners, where Dotmatics achieved remarkable growth and portfolio expansion, we are thrilled to announce our new chapter with Siemens,” said Thomas Swalla, CEO of Dotmatics. “Combining our next-generation scientific intelligence platform and industry-leading scientific applications together with Siemens' Digital Twin and AI capabilities, we’ll drive a new wave of innovation in life sciences R&D. Together, we'll accelerate innovation cycles for our customers and help scientists make breakthrough discoveries faster than ever before shaping the future of scientific innovation.”

Life Sciences presents an attractive complementary software market opportunity and expands Siemens’ industrial software total addressable market by $11 billion. This market is driven by structural shifts, such as increased medication need driven by aging societies and improved access to medicine, new treatment options from advancing science and the necessity for increased collaboration and visibility across complex value chains. These trends underscore the need for digital transformation, with software spending expected to double over the next five years.

Siemens' expansion within Life Sciences aligns with its strategic goal to accelerate customer innovation across the top industries with the highest R&D spend.

The acquisition is part of the investment track of Siemens’ ONE Tech Company program and following last week’s closing of Altair’s acquisition, yet another milestone. This growth program enables Siemens to further expand its market position and reach the next level of performance and value creation. Through acquisitions like this, as well as R&D investments into areas including software, AI-enabled products, connected hardware and sustainability, Siemens is clearly prioritizing capital allocation to strategic growth fields. The acquisition of Dotmatics enables Siemens to scale its technologies into Life Sciences and to fully address growth opportunities in this market. It will allow Siemens to combine its comprehensive manufacturing expertise, industrial simulation and AI capabilities with Dotmatics’ leading complementary applications, creating a first-of-its-kind end-to-end digital thread that connects data from research through to production in Life Sciences.

Nvidia Unveils BioNeMo, A GenAI Platform Designed for Drug Discovery and Healthcare Innovations

NVIDIA has recently unveiled — BioNeMo, a generative AI platform designed for drug discovery. It offers a range of tools to simplify and accelerate the training of models using your own data, and it facilitates the scaling of model deployment for drug discovery applications. The platform provides state-of-the-art biomolecular models for tasks such as 3D protein structure prediction, de novo protein and small molecule generation, property predictions, and molecular docking.

NVIDIA says that its latest BioNeMo foundation models can analyze DNA sequences, predict how proteins will change shape in response to a drug molecule, and determine a cell’s function based on its RNA.

BioNeMo offers pretrained models, such as MegaMolBART and MoFlow for chemistry, and ESM-1 and ESM-2 for protein embeddings. BioNeMo also allows researchers to customize and deploy generative and predictive biomolecular AI models at scale.

This generative AI platform also simplifies and speeds up training models using your own data. For example, generative AI can analyze and visualize large amounts of data to identify emerging trends, key players, and potential opportunities. This can help R&D teams and innovation-driven companies gain insights that can inform research priorities and investment strategies.

BioNeMo also features a turnkey solution accessible through a web interface or cloud APIs, allowing users to access pretrained models for interactive inference, visualization, and experimentation. It's designed to provide seamless and scalable AI services, with the flexibility to experiment and build enterprise-grade generative AI workflows.

For those interested in the technical development and deployment of AI models, BioNeMo offers training services optimized for drug discovery, with support for various models, data loaders, training workflows, and validation processes. The platform can be accessed through the NVIDIA Base Command Platform for NVIDIA DGX Cloud.

 

Resources for BioNeMo Framework

Additionally, BioNeMo's ecosystem includes documentation, tutorials, and community support to help users explore its capabilities further.

NVIDIA's BioNeMo platform is at the forefront of a collaboration with Cognizant to enhance drug discovery for pharmaceutical clients. This partnership leverages generative AI to tackle complex challenges in the life sciences industry, aiming to improve productivity and speed up the development of new treatments.

Cognizant brings its AI and industry expertise to the table, utilizing NVIDIA's pretrained, industry-specific generative AI models to provide clients with a suite of model-making services. These services are designed to reduce manual intervention for data analysis and eliminate the need for extensive coding and infrastructure maintenance.

Furthermore, NVIDIA and Microsoft have expanded their collaboration in healthcare innovation, which includes the application of generative AI technology with the NVIDIA BioNeMo platform to address drug discovery challenges. This collaboration seeks to enhance productivity in development processes and hasten the delivery of new treatments to the market.

Cognizant also plans to establish an NVIDIA AI Center of Excellence this year to continue innovating with NVIDIA technologies across various domains, including manufacturing and automotive engineering. This center will focus on leveraging generative AI to bolster productivity, streamline costs, and expedite innovation.

Besides, BioNeMo models will soon be accessible on AWS HealthOmics, a purpose-built service that helps healthcare and life sciences organizations store, query and analyze biological data including DNA and RNA.

NVIDIA says that Cadence and Iambic Therapeutics are among more than 100 companies adopting NVIDIA AI to propel computer-aided drug discovery and generative AI.

Wipro Working with AWS To Transform Lab Processes in the Life Sciences Industry

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO), a leading technology services and consulting company, announced that it is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to redefine the future of lab processes in the life sciences industry. 

The life science and pharmaceutical industries have long struggled with outdated laboratory processes that hinder efficiency and increase costs. Lab technicians, lab associates, and medical specialists often find themselves performing tasks outside of their expertise due to the fragmentation of laboratory operations across various platforms. This lack of cohesion not only results in inefficiencies but also extends the time required to bring new drugs and products to market, subsequently increasing research and development expenses.

Recognizing these challenges, Wipro began working with AWS to create the Lab of the Future. This innovative solution addresses the root issues that have plagued the industry, offering a comprehensive, cloud-based platform that streamlines laboratory processes and enhances collaboration among stakeholders.

“Our vision with launching Lab of the Future, is to deliver holistic lab performance powered by generative AI, advanced analytics, and a consultative business first approach,” said Philippe Dintrans, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Domain & Consulting at Wipro Consulting.

Among the key challenges facing the Life Sciences industry today are decreasing ROI for R&D (R&D returns fell to 1.8% in 2019, down from 10% in 20101), increasing cost of bringing new drugs to the market, and the significant amount of time spent on data management, which takes 45% of data scientists’ time, according to recent surveys.2

By introducing the Lab of the Future, Wipro and AWS aim to empower the life sciences industry with a modern, efficient, and collaborative laboratory solution that has the potential to significantly reduce costs and accelerate the development of life-saving drugs and products.

Among 12 leading large-cap biopharma companies, R&D returns fell to 1.8% in 2019—down from 10% in 2010
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2https://www.datanami.com/2020/07/06/data-prep-still-dominates-data-scientists-time-survey-finds/

“Wipro has enhanced offerings for clients across the life sciences value chain and our latest Lab innovation with AWS further illustrates our commitment to helping our clients improve business outcomes and enable cost efficiency,” said Srini Rajamani, Senior Vice President & Sector Head – Consumer and Life Sciences at Wipro.

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading technology services and consulting company focused on building innovative solutions that address clients’ most complex digital transformation needs. Leveraging our holistic portfolio of capabilities in consulting, design, engineering, and operations, we help clients realize their boldest ambitions and build future-ready, sustainable businesses. With nearly 245,000 employees and business partners across 65 countries, we deliver on the promise of helping our clients, colleagues, and communities thrive in an ever-changing world. For additional information, visit us at www.wipro.com

Accenture and Salesforce Collab to Develop AI/Data -powered Life Sciences Cloud

Accenture and Salesforce Collaborate to Help Life Sciences Companies Create Differentiation with Data and AI

To help life sciences companies create sustainable value and drive growth, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) are investing in the development of Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud including new innovations, assets and accelerators, powered by data and artificial intelligence (AI).

Building on the recently announced Accenture and Salesforce generative AI collaboration, the companies will leverage their joint generative AI acceleration hub to develop new solutions and use cases for Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud. The companies will also use Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein AI, Salesforce’s AI technology, to help increase productivity and transform healthcare professional and patient experiences.

“The rapid pace of science and technology advancements is making treatment decisions more complex,” said Emma McGuigan, senior managing director and Enterprise & Industry Technologies lead at Accenture. “Data and AI will drive differentiation around how life sciences organizations engage with their customers. Together with Salesforce, we can help organizations establish a digital foundation to support omni-channel experiences across sales, service and marketing with data and intelligence at the core.”

The accelerated adoption of data and analytics capabilities to fuel decisions and operations is a top investment priority for 58% of life sciences companies, according to Accenture Research.

“As we build the next generation Life Sciences Platform, Accenture is partnering with our teams to provide its deep industry expertise," said Amit Khanna, SVP & GM, Health and Life Sciences at Salesforce. “Accenture’s deep understanding of the pharma and medtech spaces and their current work to transform patient experiences will help us create new innovation for life sciences companies and in the new development of Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud.”

Accenture and Salesforce have worked with Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), a global pharmaceutical solutions provider that offers integrated support, including patient services, across the pharmaceutical development and commercialization journey. With Life Sciences Cloud, the companies will help Cencora utilize rich data and insights to modernize patient engagement with a digital-first capability at scale.

“Cencora is committed to leveraging new and emerging technologies, like generative AI, to deliver solutions that reduce potential barriers along the treatment journey and meet the needs of our biopharma partners, healthcare providers and the patients they serve,” said Shannon Coven, senior vice president, Data & Platforms for Global Pharma Services at Cencora. “Together with Accenture and Salesforce, we are harnessing the power of data and AI to help improve outcomes and enhance the patient care experience.”

Together, Accenture and Salesforce have already developed assets and accelerators including:

• A patient services Health Cloud assessment framework, which evaluates legacy pharma patient services solutions to generate insights and a value case for Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud.
• A pharmaceutical Data Cloud and Einstein AI accelerator, which provides a holistic view of provider and patient data, using the power of generative AI. It enables greater impact by suggesting the most important messages to be delivered to the patient during the next interaction.

Accenture will continue to develop complementary tools and methodologies to help clients test and pilot the new capabilities of Salesforce Life Sciences Cloud. 

Former Tesla Executuves' Biomaterials Startup altM Raises $3.5 Mn in Seed Round Led by Omnivore’s New Fund

altM Founders – Yugal & Apoorv

altM plans to use these funds to bring forth an engineering- and manufacturing-driven lens to circularity and sustainability. This marks the first investment from the Omnivore Agritech & Climate Sustainability Fund.

Bengaluru based Biomaterials startup altM announced that it has raised a USD 3.5 million Seed round led by Omnivore. Other investors include Theia Ventures, Thai Wah Ventures, Sanjiv Rangrass, Neha Mudaliar, Maninder Gulati from OYO, Mirik Gogri from Spectrum Impact, and Paula Mariwala from Aureolis Ventures.

Founded by former-Tesla senior executives — Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain — altM is Omnivore’s first investment from its third fund, which recently had a first close at USD 150 million. This is also the firm’s fourth investment under its OmniX Bio initiative, which was setup in 2021 to back early-stage agrifood life science startups.

altM aims to develop and manufacture scalable biomaterials to help large industries reduce their carbon footprints across their supply chains. The startup uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues as their raw material to produce advanced materials as alternatives to unsustainable incumbents. Given its sustainability potential and functional properties, lignocellulosic biomass offers a unique technological appeal to form a family of materials.

altM, which is based in Bengaluru, was founded in 2022 by Apoorv Garg and Yugal Raj Jain, who met while working at Tesla in the US.

Before altM, Apoorv served in supply chain and engineering leadership roles at Prometheus Fuels, Tesla, and Maruti Suzuki. He is an alumnus of the University of California, Berkeley (M.Eng.) and Delhi College of Engineering (B.Tech.). Yugal earlier worked at Tesla in engineering leadership roles, managing several factory and product launches. He is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.Eng.) and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (B.E.). The team also includes Dr. Harshad Velankar with over 20 years of academic and industrial experience across India, the US, and South Africa. He previously led bioprocess research at HPCL, with prior stints at Praj Industries and Reliance Life Sciences.

Apoorv Garg, CEO and Co-Founder at altM, said, “The scale-up of a technology from a laboratory bench to commercial production is not a trivial undertaking. Production scale-up is often the death valley for biotech startups. Our focus on go-to-market strategy, execution, and production scale-up will be the differentiator to most endeavors we see in the world of biomaterials today.”

Mark Kahn, Managing Partner at Omnivore, said, “With Apoorv and Yugal's background in manufacturing excellence, altM's entry into industrial alternative materials will hasten the global shift towards sustainability and circularity. Omnivore is very excited to be a part of their journey as we kick off our new fund.”

altM aims to develop and manufacture scalable biomaterials to help large industries reduce carbon footprints across their supply chains. The startup uses lignocellulosic agricultural residues as their raw material to produce advanced materials as alternatives to unsustainable incumbents. For more information, please visit https://www.altm.bio/.

About Omnivore

Omnivore is a venture capital firm based in India which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. For more information, please visit: https://www.omnivore.vc/.

Zeon Lifesciences Upgrades its Paonta Sahib Plant enabled with AI and Industry 2.0 Automation

Aims to boost production and create more job opportunities

Zeon Lifesciences, an Indian nutraceutical and herbal product manufacturer upgrades its Paonta sahib plant enabled with AI and Industry 2.0 Automation for business growth and innovation with the goal of focusing on new innovations and research advancements in India's nutraceutical industry.

New developments have occurred at the existing plant as a result of plant advancement, such as the implementation of ZEMANEX's new operating model (Zeon Manufacturing Excellence- The New Way of Working), the formation of a new independent vertical: Manufacturing Compliance, the implementation of the new First Line Leader (FLL) concept for better accountability and responsibility, and so on.

The firm will gain from this in terms of capacity improvement, a focused perspective on zero faults, zero waste, zero accidents, cost optimization, diverse clientele, and a greater ability to handle diverse clients and diverse demands of all dose forms. Consequently, additional jobs will be created, for those with less than five years of work experience, changing the operating model, which includes the organizational structure; from top-heavy to bottom rich, creates better opportunities for them to be inducted as developed FLL members, where they can demonstrate their talent and leadership in leading blue-collar workers.

Expressing his views on the development, Suresh Garg, MD, and Founder, of Zeon Lifesciences, stated “To tackle the upcoming challenges of industrial expansion, research & development, and innovations in the nutraceutical sector, technology-enabled innovation and consistent adoption of new technologies are required. I think that this new development and the facilities at the plant will open up new opportunities for business, medical research, and innovation, as well as establish a standard for nutraceuticals in India. I have no doubt that this new business initiative will be a great success."

“Zeon consistently promotes innovative and translational research in an effort to revolutionize medical innovation and research in India. The main goal of this development is to conduct out R&D projects that are easy to manage to study product formulation and its development in the areas of Nutraceuticals, Ayurvedic, Clinical Nutrition, Phytotherapeutics, Sports Nutrition and Cosmeceuticals” said Dr. Vivek Srivastav, Senior Vice President, Zeon Lifesciences

About Zeon Lifesciences

Established in 1987, Zeon Lifesciences Ltd., has become one of the most preferred manufacturing partners for Nutraceutical and Herbal products for major reputed industries across Indian and global territories. The company deals with a wide range of product categories such as Health and Wellness, Vigor and Vitality, Beauty and Wellness, Bone Health, Endurance, and Healthy Weight. A broad spectrum of end-to-end researched-driven products caters to all Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Kid’s Health, Medical Nutrition, and Weight Management Nutrition. It has advanced its systems and institutions to deliver the absolute highest quality of nutraceutical and supplement products to every client, and at an unmatched value.

Formed by a strong vision of the industry veteran Mr Suresh Garg back in 1987, Zeon is a heritage-rich company that envisions good health for all. Zeon is a leader in finished formulations and quality ingredients with a focus on extensively researched products. It offers a complete bouquet of manufacturing and developmental solutions to meet the ever-changing market demand. Zeon has a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Ponta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh, which is spread across 28000sq. Yards. The facility is equipped with the latest technology and a DSIR recognized R&D facility dedicated to Gen-next innovation. The campus has four manufacturing units for dedicated SKU’s like Spray-dried Powder, Dry Blended Powder, Tablets, Capsules, Diskettes, and Liquids. This ensures environmental control for each type of formulation.

Strand Life Sciences Launches ‘Strand Genomic' for Preventive Wellness

Strand’s new offering will help people better understand and manage diseases through genomic sequencing. 

Strand Life Sciences, a genomics-based research and diagnostics company, has launched ‘Strand Genomic Wellness’, a new line of genomic-based tests for preventive wellness. Launched at Bengaluru Tech Summit, this new offering from Strand can help individuals understand and manage their disease better.

As the first offering of the program, Strand has introduced the ‘Genomic Health Insight’ report to help individuals understand how their personal genomic variations might influence their risk for a broad range of diseases with 30-100% heritability. This knowledge can help individuals work with their doctors to manage their risk with proactive wellness measures.

A recent study published by Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicates that nearly 1 in 8 people who underwent predictive genomic testing found that they had a genetic risk for a health condition and may be able to manage it better with preventive care. Rising adoption of healthier lifestyles and increasing awareness of new healthcare programs and advancements are expected to drive increasing demand for predictive genetic testing .

Commenting on the new launch, Dr. Ramesh Hariharan, CEO & Co-Founder, Strand Life Sciences, said, “We are excited to bring our 22 years of experience in Genomics and Bioinformatics to help individuals use genomics-based insights to proactively manage their wellness. Genomics is advancing at a breakneck pace, and the Genomic Wellness initiative will bring these advances to the Indian consumer, beginning with inherited insights and eventually covering evolving insights that reflect the dynamic of the ageing body”

Strand’s new Genomic Health Insight screening offers the following benefits:

• It helps understand the risk of developing certain inherited diseases that manifest later in life
• It helps identify risks to progeny
• It helps individuals work with their clinicians to make lifestyle changes and adopt necessary preventive measures to lower their risk and that of their progeny
• It provides a catalogue of genomic variants in ~20,000 genes for life and access to new research findings on these variations, as and when they arise. 

As a part of the new launch, and in order for families to understand their risks more comprehensively, Strand will also be offering a limited number of free Genomic Health Insight reports for parents of any adult choosing to get one for themselves.

For more details, visit, https://diagnostics.strandls.com/genomic-wellness

About Strand Life Sciences

Strand Life Sciences is a genomics-based research and diagnostics company that combines a long track record in bioinformatics with cutting-edge laboratory assays and a vast hospital partner network to drive newer generations of patient care. Strand’s customers include global instrument, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies. Strand is also a pioneer of genomic testing in India. Strand’s long global bioinformatics track record makes it the most trusted company for genomic diagnostics in the areas of oncology, rare diseases, women’s health, and infectious diseases.

India’s 1st National Repository for Life Science Data Launched at Faridabad

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh dedicated to the nation India’s first national repository for life science data–'Indian Biological Data Center’ (IBDC) at Faridabad, Haryana.

IBDC has accumulated over 200 billion bases from 2,08,055 submissions from more than 50 research labs across India.

As per the BIOTECH-PRIDE guidelines of the Government of India, IBDC is mandated to archive all life science data generated from publicly-funded research in India. Biotech-PRIDE (Promotion of Research and Innovation through Data Exchange) Guidelines was released by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, in July last year. 

IBDC has a data storage capacity of about 4 petabytes and houses the ‘Brahm’ High Performance Computing (HPC) facility. The computational infrastructure at IBDC is also made available for researchers interested in performing computational-intensive analysis. Users can contact the data center by submitting their requests at support@ibdc.rcb.res.i

Dr Jitendra Singh informed that IBDC has started nucleotide data submission services via two data portals viz. the ‘Indian Nucleotide Data Archive (INDA)’ and ‘Indian Nucleotide Data Archive - Controlled Access (INDA-CA)’ and has accumulated over 200 billion bases from 2,08,055 submissions from more than 50 research labs across India.

The national repository also hosts an online ‘Dashboard’ for the genomic surveillance data generated by the INSACOG labs (https://inda.rcb.ac.in/insacog/statisticsinsacog). The online dashboard provides customized data submission, access, data analysis services, and real-time SARS-CoV-2 variant monitoring across India. Data submission and access portals for other data types are under development and would be launched shortly. 

IBDC is committed to the spirit of data sharing as per FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles. 

Interestingly, IBDC is being developed in a modular fashion wherein different sections would typically deal with particular type/s of life science data. 

The computational infrastructure at IBDC is also made available for researchers interested in performing computational intensive analysis. Users can contact the data center by submitting their requests at support@ibdc.rcb.res.in. 

Further, IBDC conducts regular workshops and orientations (https://ibdc.rcb.res.in/news-and-announcement/) to assist users in submitting the data. Video tutorials for data submission to IBDC are also available at the data center website.

The data center team can also be contacted at support@ibdc.rcb.res.in for scheduling of any workshop on data submission/analysing 

Strand Life Sciences Sequenced 12,800 SARS-CoV-2 Samples from Bengaluru and Identifies 100 Lineages Circulating in the City

Strand Life Sciences presents ‘Report on Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in the city of Bengaluru’

Strand Life Sciences has sequenced a total of 12800 samples from July, 2021 to June, 2022, and identified more than a 100 lineages circulating in Bengaluru

Strand Life Sciences, a genomics-based research and diagnostics company, presented insights from its COVID19 genomic surveillance initiative of sequencing 12,800 SARS-CoV-2 samples from the city of Bengaluru on Sunday, 17th July 2022, as a part of the ‘Celebrating Covid Genomic Sequencing and Surveillance effort in Karnataka’ event at Sir Puttanna Chetty Townhall, JC Road, Bengaluru.

The event was presided over by Dr Ashwath Narayan CN, Minister of Higher Education, IT & BT, Govt of Karnataka, Dr. Thrilok Chandra, IAS, Special Health Commissioner, BBMP, Dr. Ramesh Hariharan, CEO & Co-Founder, Strand Life Sciences, , Prof. Rajesh Sundaresan, IISc, Professor, Dr Vishal US Rao, Member of Genomic Surveillance Committee, Karnataka, and Director - Head and Neck Oncology, HCG Cancer Hospital, and Prof. Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society.

RTPCR +ve samples were collected between July, 2021 and June, 2022 from various laboratories in Bengaluru, Karnataka, with due permissions from BBMP. These samples were then sequenced and analyzed for variants and strains at Strand’s laboratories, and the findings were conveyed to the Karnataka State and BBMP public health officials in conjunction with INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium) labs like InStem, the key stakeholders for this project. The project was supported primarily by philanthropic funding from IN Covid Support, supplemented with funding from organisations like ACT Covid Response Collective.

L to R Naga karthik, IN covid support, Dr Balasundar CHO BBMP, Rajesh Sudaresan IISc Ashwath Narayan Ramesh Hariharan and Vishal US Rao

Key findings from the report 

A total of 12,800 RT PCR positive COVID-19 samples were sequenced at Strand Life Sciences during the time period between July 2021 and June 2022. These samples were collected from the various  wards across Karnataka, with a focus on Bengaluru.

Key findings

• In the 12,800 samples sequenced, more than 100 lineages were found.
• 44.4% of these were Delta and its 75 sub-lineages. 70% of these were the main B.1.617.2 sub-lineage and the remaining were the various AY.* sub-lineages.
• Delta and its sub-lineages were dominant from July to Oct 2021; the first Omicron presence in India was detected in late November 2021.
• Thereafter, Omicron grew rapidly to close to 100% by the end of January 2022 and the Delta sub-lineages were no longer visible. 
• There were a total of ~30 Omicron sub-lineages identified, of which BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.10, BA.3 were notable.
• A.2 and its sub-lineages dominated from Jan to May 2022, while BA.1 and BA.3 also retained some presence.
• A small presence for BA.5 was detected in April and May 2022.
• In June 2022, BA.2 and its sub-lineages continued to dominate at 74%, albeit reduced from 94%. 
• BA.5 and its sub-lineages recorded substantial growth to 20% in Jun 2022 and appeared as the leading contenders to unseat BA.2 and its sub-lineages. BA.4 also appeared at 2%.
• Continued genomic surveillance in the coming months will determine if BA.5 and its sub-lineages are able to phase out BA.2 and its sub-lineages, as has been the case in some other parts of the world.      

Key Contributions of the Initiative

• Strand Life Sciences developed ‘CoviSurve™’, a dashboard for real-time integration of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing data with the clinical and epidemiological information. 
• CoviSurve™ helps identify how many had a given variant and where and when it was detected. It also serves as a tool for early identification of novel variants. 
• Strand Life Sciences played a key role in the detection of the first Omicron cases recorded in India from international travellers. Continuous monitoring in Bengaluru city allowed close tracking of the spread of Omicron in the community. 
• Strand Life Sciences provided timely information that AY.4.2 was not a variant of concern in Bengaluru. AY.4.2 is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant. It was highlighted as a potential  variant of interest in the UK in late October 2021. However, only 1 out of 948 sequences in October 2021 from Bengaluru belonged to this  lineage. 
• This information was shared with the relevant authorities in a timely manner.
• Strand Life Sciences sequenced samples from high profile outbreaks in schools and colleges. In November 2021, as schools and colleges reopened, a number of COVID-19 clusters were observed in Karnataka. Strand’s analysis showed that sequences in these clusters were not related, reducing concerns of potential broader spread.

Commenting on the report, Dr. Ramesh Hariharan, CEO & Co-Founder, Strand Life Sciences, said, “We are proud to have contributed 38% of the samples submitted from Karnataka to major public databases. In hindsight, there was an opportunity to spot the emergence of the Delta strain at least a month before it caused its tragic mayhem. We learned from that and have since been tracking the virus closely and providing timely information to the Government of Karnataka and BBMP. We would like to thank the Government of Karnataka and BBMP officials as well as all our funding partners for their invaluable support, which allowed us as a society to stay on top of the virus.”

Dr Ashwath Narayan CN, Minister of Higher Education, IT & BT, Govt of Karnataka, “A vital component of managing public health is keeping up with virus mutations and lineages. We have taken active measures to encourage genomic sequencing to enable detection of new variants proactively. This effort by Strand Life Sciences has played a significant role in understanding the spread and identifying relevant solutions to control the spread of the virus.”

Dr. Vishal US Rao, Member of Genomic Surveillance Committee, Karnataka, and Director - Head and Neck Oncology, HCG Cancer Hospital, said, “As new variants of coronavirus continue to emerge, genomic surveillance has an important role to play in bringing the pandemic under control. In order to contribute effectively, we must continue to build tools and sustainable systems for genomic surveillance which can then be leveraged to other pathogens. We plan to continue sequencing of human SARS-CoV-2 cases to ensure that public health officials stay informed and implement appropriate measures”

Dr. K.V Thrilok Chandra, IAS, Special Commissioner Health, BBMP, said “Genomic Surveillance has played a central role in ramping up health infrastructure as well as in introducing new measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19. I would like to congratulate the entire team of Strand Life Sciences for undertaking this ambitious project and sharing key insights on SARS-CoV-2 variants”

Dr. Vijay Chandru, Member Genomic Surveillance Committee of GoK and Chairman of the Science Advisory Board, Strand Life Sciences, said,  “The success of the new PPP triumvirate of public health, private technology and philanthropy in the delivery of cutting-edge and world-class genomic surveillance during the last one year in Karnataka, is a remarkable achievement that needs to be talked about and celebrated. It is testimony to the cooperation we have between industry, academia and the government in Karnataka. Genomic surveillance of this class requires a remarkable convergence of prowess in biotechnology and information technology and sophistication in health systems delivery and it is Bengaluru’s excellence in all these spheres that have come together in response to the pandemic to demonstrate that pandemic preparedness can be a very positive outcome of this challenging period that we have lived through."

Strand Life Sciences is a genomics-based research and diagnostics company that combines a long track record in bioinformatics with cutting-edge laboratory assays and a vast hospital partner network to drive newer generations of patient care. Strand’s customers include global instrument, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies. Strand is also a pioneer of genomic testing in India. Strand’s long global bioinformatics track record makes it the most trusted company for genomic diagnostics in the areas of oncology, rare diseases, fertility, women’s health, and infectious diseases.

Zeon Lifesciences and Pharma Varsity DPSRU Ink MoU for Innovation in Nutraceuticals, Phytopharmaceuticals and Ayurveda

Zeon Lifesciences signs MoU with Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research University (DPSRU)

Aim to accelerate the development of new breakthroughs in the fields of nutraceuticals, phytopharmaceuticals, and Ayurveda

Zeon Lifesciences, India’s largest manufacturer of Nutraceutical and Herbal products, signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research University (DPSRU) to establish collaboration for academic interaction and research advancement in the specified fields, as well as to share facilities and expertise. 

DPSRU and Zeon will conduct collaborative research activities at DPSRU encompassing pharmaceutical technology, synthesis and analytical techniques, pharmacotherapeutics, standardization of herbal actives and protocols adopted to comply with the regulatory milieu of the region/country concerned.

The goal of this collaboration is to conduct R&D projects to investigate formulation and product development in the fields of nutraceuticals, phytopharmaceuticals, and Ayurveda. Zeon Lifesciences Limited and DPSRU will be conducting clinical trials as per AYUSH or DCGI guidelines, applicable for selected formulations. Both entities will also conduct studies to compare the prevailing regulations, approaches and challenges while registration of drug products.

Commenting on the collaboration, Mr Suresh Garg, MD and Founder, Zeon Lifesciences: “Our collaboration with DSPRU aims to give our country's youth hands-on experience with the industry's ongoing development in the nutraceutical and phytopharmaceutical sectors. Millennials will have the opportunity to delve deeply because there has been an increase in curiosity, and as a result, they will grow rapidly in this field. We anticipate strong alliances, both domestically and globally.”

"We're looking forward to collaborating with Zeon Lifesciences on joint convergence research projects, as well as establishing and operating leading academic models in the emerging fields of nutraceuticals, phytopharmaceuticals, and Ayurveda. This collaboration will help both parties combine their complementary strengths and work towards establishing a thriving ecosystem for the future." Dr Ramesh Goyal, Vice-Chancellor, DPSRU added. 

With the vision to transform into a research-driven organisation, Zeon has collaborated with multiple reputed institutions across India for conducting quality research, pre-clinical & clinical study on these products, including NII, New Delhi, CCMB Hyderabad, IMS, Banaras Hindu University, SRM University, Chennai, Adesh University, Punjab, BITS Pilani, NIPER Mohali, and IIIM, CSIR, Jammu. Zeon has expressed an interest in collaborating on a variety of research-based products and technologies for the development of novel formulations and drug discovery.

Startup Genome and LaunchVic Release Global Rankings/Insights of Life Sciences Startup Ecosystems Globally

Global rankings and insights into the world’s Life Sciences startup ecosystems 

Startup Genome and LaunchVic Release the Global Startup Ecosystem Report: Life Sciences Edition 

The 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER): Life Sciences Edition from Startup Genome and LaunchVic has launched today. The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups with 280 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems and 3 million startups analyzed. The Life Sciences Edition dives deep into the globally competitive landscape of technology-based startups focused on diagnosing, treating, and managing diseases and conditions. This includes startups in Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, and Medtech—which is also referred to as medical devices. 

Key Findings

• The Top Five Global Life Sciences ecosystems are Silicon Valley, Boston, New York City, London, and San Diego. North America and Europe dominate the Top 25 Life Sciences ecosystems, with 48% and 24% of the Top 25 respectively, followed by Asia at 20%, and MENA and Oceania with one ecosystem each in the Top 25.
• 49% of the unicorns between 2015-2020 were created in the top five ecosystems.
• There are now 108 Life Sciences unicorns globally, with 34 companies achieving unicorn status in the first half of 2021 alone.
• Series A investment in this sub-sector crossed $10 billion in 2020.
• The average deal size for a Series A investment in 2020 was over $15 million.
• The total amount of Series B+ investment in 2020 was over $18 billion, nearly double the global amount in 2019.
• The average deal amount for Series B+ is four times higher than it was ten years ago.
• In 2020, global Life Sciences exits totalled a whopping $96 billion, double the value in 2019.
• A special focus on the burgeoning Life Sciences Ecosystem in Melbourne
• Melbourne, with three exits over $50 million dollars, created nearly 100 new Life Sciences startups in the last ten years, 17% of which were created in 2017.
• Over 70% of the deals in the Life Sciences sector in the large Oceania tech hubs are made in Melbourne, accounting for about 88% of the amount invested.
• On a regional level, Melbourne-based companies received over 60% of Life Sciences investment in Oceania.

Within the report, Life Sciences ecosystems all over the world are ranked based on many factors including funding, performance, and founder knowledge. The number one ecosystem for Life Sciences is Silicon Valley, followed by Boston, New York City, London, and San Diego. North America and Europe dominate the Top 25 Life Sciences ecosystems, with 48% and 24% of the Top 25 respectively, followed by Asia at 20%, and MENA and Oceania with one ecosystem each in the Top 25.

The Report findings are driven by a data focused approach, with a specific interest on funding and unicorn creation. In fact, there are now 108 Life Sciences unicorns globally, with 34 companies achieving unicorn status in the first half of 2021 alone. Also, 49% of the Life Sciences unicorns between 2015-2020 were created in the Top 5 ecosystems. The research also shows that Series A investment in Life Sciences crossed $10 billion in 2020 and the average deal size for a Series A investment in Life Sciences is over $15 million. Additionally, the total amount of Series B+ investment in 2020 in Life Sciences startups was over $18 billion, nearly double the global amount in 2019. The average deal amount for Series B+ investment in Life Sciences is four times higher than it was 10 years ago. In 2020, global Life Sciences exits totalled $96 billion, which is double the value in 2019. 

“Since 2012, our research has provided rich insights and guidance to public and private leaders on how to cultivate thriving startup ecosystems and support local startups — the #1 engine of job creation and economic growth,” shares Marc Penzel, Founder & President of Startup Genome. “The 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER): Life Sciences Edition sheds light specifically on a fast-growing sub-sector with an incredible trajectory. Startup ecosystems with a density in talent, funding, programs and academics in Life Sciences should be focused on building on these strengths and creating policies for Life Sciences founders to thrive.” 

The Report includes a special focus on the burgeoning Life Sciences Ecosystem in Melbourne, Australia. On a regional level, Melbourne-based companies received over 60% of Life Sciences investment in Oceania. Melbourne, with three exits over $50 million dollars, created nearly 100 new Life Sciences startups in the last 10 years, 17% of which were created in 2017. Also, over 70% of the deals in the Life Sciences sector in the large Oceania tech hubs are made in Melbourne, accounting for about 88% of the amount invested. 

LaunchVic CEO Dr. Kate Cornick shares that the sector’s exponential growth was enabled by a rich medical research and educational landscape. 

“Melbourne as a destination has some big global advantages, including rapid clinical trials, excellent product service development, an impressive engineering workforce and our proximity to Asia in terms of customer base,” Dr Cornick said. “With strong foundations, it’s critical the state now translates discoveries in our labs into commercialised startups that can improve global health and boost the state economy. The sector is a major driver of jobs, with Victorian Healthtech companies adding new jobs 55% faster than the already-over performing healthcare sector (+9.7% growth) in 2020.” 

View the full report here: http://startupgenome.com/report/lifesciences2021 

ABOUT STARTUP GENOME 

Startup Genome’s mission is to enhance startup success and ecosystem performance everywhere. Startup Genome is the world’s leading policy advisory and research organization for governments and public-private partnerships. Its impact is rooted in the world’s largest entrepreneurship research with data on over three million companies across 280 cities. Learn how Startup Genome accelerates global startup ecosystems by contacting Adam Bregu at adam@startupgenome.com and on startupgenome.com, LinkedIn, Twitter. 

ABOUT LAUNCHVIC 

LaunchVic is Victoria's startup agency. The agency was established by the Victorian Government in March 2016 as an independent agency responsible for developing Victoria's startup ecosystem. Its mission is to lead the development of a globally-connected startup ecosystem by supporting startups and investors to sustainably grow and deliver economic and cultural benefits for both Victoria and Australia. Contact us if you have questions about what we do, enquires about funding, or our programs. 

Sai Life Sciences becomes a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

HYDERABAD, India, Aug. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sai Life Sciences, a leading global Contract Research, Development & Manufacturing Organization (CRO/ CDMO), today announced that it has become a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world's largest sustainability initiative. As a signatory, Sai Life Sciences has committed itself to adopting the Ten Principles of the UNGC on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, reinforcing the company's commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability.

 

Making the announcement, Krishna Kanumuri, CEO & Managing Director said, "As we pursue our vision and business growth, we consciously integrate our social, environmental and governance responsibilities. We have committed ourselves to implement Ten Principles of the UNGC and to make them part of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our company. This will help us in strengthening our sustainability agenda and also accelerate our progress towards achieving our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

Over the past two years, Sai Life Sciences has made significant investments and progress in advancing its Sustainability agenda as part of its organizational transformation initiative, Sai Nxt. Some of the notable highlights:

• Became the first India-headquartered company to join the PSCI membership.
• Joined ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS-GCIPR) as an 'Associate Member'.
• Released its first Sustainability Report in 2020 in line with the GRI framework
• Received the ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications for its R&D and manufacturing sites.
• Won the prestigious 21st National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2020 by CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre
• Received 5-Star rating for Excellence in EHS Practices at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) South awards 2019 and 2020.

About Sai Life Sciences

Sai Life Sciences is a full-service CRO-CDMO that works with innovator pharma and biotech companies globally, to accelerate the discovery, development and commercialisation of complex small molecules. For over two decades, Sai Life Sciences has consistently delivered high-quality, cost-effective solutions to its diverse customers spanning biotechs, small, mid and large pharma. Today, it has over 2200 employees across its facilities in India, UK and USA. Sai Life Sciences is privately held and backed by global investors, TPG Capital and HBM Healthcare Investments. https://www.sailife.com.

Life Sciences' Cloud Software Startup Axtria, Having 75% Workforce in India, Becomes Unicorn After Latest Funding

Image - Facebook.com/AxtriaInc

Axtria Inc, a global provider of cloud software and data analytics to the Life Sciences industry, has reportedly been valued at close to $1 billion after picking up $150 million in a funding round led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, the growth investing business of venture capital firm Bain Capital.

Axtria confirmed the funding, but the $1 billion valuation comes from people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private, reported Bloomberg.

Founded in 2010, by Jassi Chadha and Navi Chadha, Axtria provides cloud based data management and artificial intelligence software for companies in the life sciences industry, with the goal of helping them to bring therapeutics to market faster.

The U.S.-based startup has 75% of its workforce located in India and selected thrice in Great Place to Work® in India 2018-2020 and in 2020 in the USA. Axtria has customers in over 75+ countries, Axtria is one of the biggest global commercial solutions providers in the Life Sciences industry.

Axtria's latest funding is the first institutional funding the company has received,  Axtria Chief Executive Jassi Chadha told Bloomberg. He said that Astria is already operating at a profit, and that it could be ready to go public within the next three to five years.

Bain Capital Managing Director Darren Abrahamson said in a statement that he likes Axtria because it’s solving a unique pain point in the life sciences industry. He explained that pharmaceutical companies have struggled to work out how to leverage the vast amounts of data they have and use it intelligently to drive thoughtful decision-making. Axtria gives them to the tools they need to do that, he said.

Sai Life Sciences releases its first Sustainability Report

Developed as per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards 

Highlights the various sustainable choices embraced by the company in steering its journey on a sustainable path

HYDERABAD, India, Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sai Life Sciences, one of India's fastest growing Contract Research, Development & Manufacturing Organizations (CRO/ CDMO), today announced the release of its first Sustainability Report as per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. The report sheds light on the company's progress during 2019-20 across the three pillars of sustainability i.e. economic, environment and social.  

Making the announcement, Krishna Kanumuri, CEO & Managing Director said, "I am delighted to present our inaugural, 2019-2020 Sustainability Report. It reflects our deep commitment towards sustainability, in our pursuit of bringing new medicines to life. It also is a reaffirmation of our promise to Make it better together with all stakeholders, which functions as a key driver in continuously refining our sustainability practices and achieving business growth responsibly."

The report highlights the company's progress on all issues that are critical for its business and stakeholders. It details the various initiatives driving the company's progress towards its stated sustainable development goals. During the year, Sai Life Sciences surpassed its goals for the responsible disposal of hazardous waste and its community outreach programs. It also is steadily progressing towards utilizing renewable power to meet its energy needs. It instituted the 'Green Chemistry Awards' to celebrate and recognize teams that demonstrate discernible improvements over established processes. The full report can be accessed here.

Speaking on the occasion, Sreekrishna Chopperla, Vice President & Head – Corporate Health, Safety & Environment said, "Over time, we have been able to inculcate in our employees an innate mindset towards sustainability. This enables our progress towards the sustainability development goals each day. We will continue to follow this path as we expand and grow, keeping sustainable development at the core."

The release of the 2020 Sustainability Report caps a highly productive year for Sai Life Sciences from a sustainability perspective. Some of the highlights:

• Became the first India-headquartered company to join the PSCI membership.
• Received the ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 certifications for its R&D facility, manufacturing site and corporate office. 
• Joined ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS-GCIPR) as an 'Associate Member'. 
• Won the prestigious 21st National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2020 by CII - Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre 
• Received 5-Star rating for Excellence in EHS Practices at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) South awards 2019. 

Further, through its proactive response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company ensured minimal impact on its stakeholders and business operations by safeguarding workforce, ensuring business continuity with its supplier and customers, and supporting the community.

About Sai Life Sciences

Sai Life Sciences is a full-service CRO/ CDMO driven by a vision to support the launch of 25 new medicines by 2025. It works with innovator pharma and biotech companies globally, accelerating the discovery, development and manufacture of complex small molecules. As a pure-play services company, Sai Life Sciences has served a diverse set of NCE development programs, consistently delivering value based on its quality and responsiveness. Today, it works with 7 of the top 10 large pharma companies, as well as several small and mid-sized pharma & biotech companies. Sai Life Sciences is privately held and backed by global investors, TPG Capital and HBM Healthcare Investments. https://www.sailife.com

Foxx Life Sciences Announces Opening of New Asia Headquarters in India

SALEM, New Hampshire , Nov. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Foxx Life Sciences announced on Tuesday that it will open the new international Asia headquarters in Medchal, Hyderabad, India . The latest expansion comes with strong growth and performance in Asia and the continued expansion of Biopharmaceutical manufacturing in the region.

"Foxx is proud to expand in Asia to offer innovative products to the Indian and Asian markets. We are happy to be committed to providing our customers with high-quality products with exceptional global customer service." - Vikram Mahapatra , VP- APAC

Foxx will continue to invest based on the strong demand growth forecast in India and Asia markets for Foxx Custom Single Use Technology  (SUT) uniquely designed to support biopharmaceutical & bioprocess companies. To address the rising demand for our SUT and EHS support products such as EZwaste , Vactrap & the patented Autofil  vacuum filtration units, the company is aggressively hiring additional Sales, Manufacturing & Engineering Services personnel for its new 20,000 square feet facility in India .

In addition, Foxx Life Sciences is also launching a brand new website www.foxxlifesciences.in  for product knowledge and easy online purchase of Foxx products by Asia customers.

"Foxx is recognized as the bridge to India in the USA " stated Thomas Taylor , President and CEO.

Foxx Life Sciences shares a robust relationship and partnered with reputed Indian manufacturers such as Borosil Glass, Ami Polymer, and Abdos Labtech for the exclusive distribution of their products in the North American region. Foxx has grown over 40% "per Year" for the last eight out of nine years and was also ranked the 3rd fastest growing company in NH, USA in August 2020 .

"The decision to expand our presence into the APAC region fits our long-term plan for our business growth strategy to provide superior service and delivery of our innovative products in Asia ," said Taylor.

The new state of the art facility will have warehouse inventory and manufacturing for the APAC region.

About Foxx Life Sciences:

Located just 32 miles from Boston , Foxx Life Sciences is a privately-held world leader in custom single-use systems (SUS) including tubing, bag, bottle, flask, and carboy assemblies, filtration, fluid management, laboratory safety products, Stainless Steel, and glassware for the research, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries. With a focus on quality (ISO 13485 since 2010) and our certified ISO Class 7 clean rooms, Foxx is the perfect partner for your next single-use custom assembly.

Foxx Life has launched several innovative product ranges over the last 10 years with exceptional growth and supported customers globally in over 30+ Countries. The High-Quality Innovative products with features and benefits that customer does not have are always customers first choice. In a short span of time, Foxx has successfully launched various products like EZGrip Carboys , VersaCap® Technology, BioProcess SUS, Patented Autofil, EZwaste Systems, and many more.

Additional information can be obtained by contacting Foxx Life Sciences, Phone 1-603-890-FOXX (3699) or visit our web site at www.foxxlifesciences.com

Eknath Kulkarni, Phone: +1 860 938 4505, email: eknath.kulkarni@foxxlifesciences.com

Related Links

https://www.foxxlifesciences.com/collections/custom-single-use-assemblies

https://www.foxxlifesciences.com/collections/bottle-top-filters