Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, a Mumbai, India-headquartered pharmaceutical company, plans to spin off its innovation business into a new company as a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenmark based in the US. The company’s Board of Directors has given an in-principle approval to spin off the business.

Glenmark’s current innovation pipeline consists of eight assets, including new chemical entities and new biological entities, in various stages of development in the areas of immunology, oncology and pain management. Glenmark says that setting up of the new company will provide an enhanced focus to its innovation business and help accelerate its pipeline toward commercialization.

The spin-off will have an independent board and a new Chief Executive Officer. The other members of the management and the team remain unchanged. The transfer of the assets and employees to the new innovation company is expected to be completed in the next six to nine months.

According to the plan, all of the company’s innovative molecules in its pipeline, including preclinical assets and technology, its research and development (R&D) centers in Switzerland, its R&D center in Paramus, New Jersey, and its R&D center in Navi Mumbai, India related to its innovation business, and its biologics manufacturing facility in Switzerland, along with all employees associated with innovative R&D, will be part of the new company.

The new company will have over 400 employees as part of this business. Its specialty and generics business will continue to be housed in the parent company and will not be part of this new company.

To date, Glenmark has generated around $250 million through eight out-licensing deals for novel molecules to global pharmaceutical companies, including Merck KGaA, Eli Lilly, Sanofi, and Forest Laboratories (now part of Allergan).

Its innovation pipeline includes five clinical and three preclinical assets. Of the five clinical and three preclinical assets in development, two clinical assets are currently in Phase IIb, and one asset is likely to enter Phase IIb in FY 2020, according to the company. Its pipeline further includes three immuno-oncology bispecific antibodies.

Source: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals