MPM Capital invests in Sai Advantium pharma

Hyderabad: MPM Capital, a venture capital investor focussed on the life sciences space, has invested $20 million in Sai Advantium Pharma, a chemistry-driven drug discovery and development service company headquartered in Hyderabad.

For US-based MPM Capital, which has capital under management in excess of $2.5 billion, this is the first investment in the country, according to a press release here on Thursday.

This is the second major PE investment for Sai Advantium. In 2007, Sequoia Capital picked up a minority stake with an investment of $12.5 million.
While not disclosing financial details or stake dilution, a company official told Business Line that the $20 million would be used for augmenting operations and infrastructure to capture the growing opportunities in the pharma outsourcing area.

The company is setting up a new facility at Jawahar Pharmacity, being developed by the Ramky Group in Visakhapatnam. It would also augment capacities in the existing facilities in Hyderabad and Pune, he said.

The MPM Managing Director, Dr William Greene, would be joining Sai Advantium’s board. According to Dr Greene, MPM intends to help the company approach biotechnology companies and big pharma partners.