The International Finance Corporation is considering assistance of Rs 1 billion for funding the biotech start-ups in Andhra Pradesh.

Disclosing this at the three-day 'Biotech Invest 2003: Global meet on strategic alliances and business opportunities' that opened in Hyderabad on Friday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that the IFC, the corporate wing of the World Bank, would sanction the money to Biotechnology Venture Fund set up by AP government recently to provide much-needed venture capital support to biotech companies.

Naidu said the department of biotechnology, Government of India, has decided to set up a biotech incubator, with an outlay of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) in the Shapoorji Pallonji Biotech Park.

The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology would provide technical assistance for this project.

The chief minister said that the Indian Council of Medical Research would be taking up an important project -- National Animal Resource Facility for Biomedical Research in collaboration with National Institute of Nutrition (Hyderabad) and National Institute of Health (US).

The state government has allotted 100 acres of land for this project which would come up opposite the Biotech Park in Genome Valley.

The Government of India and the Andhra Pradesh government would raise resources to the tune of Rs 150-200 crore (Rs 1.5-2 billion) for the National Animal Resource Facility, which would be promoted as a joint venture of the two governments as well as private biotech and pharma industries.

Naidu said that besides the Biotechnology Venture Fund, the AP Industrial Development Corporation has set up a Venture Capital Fund to fund biotech start-ups.

The APIDC has invested Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) and the Andhra Bank has provided Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) towards the corpus of APIDC Venture Capital Fund.

AP Industrial Infrastructure Development Fund has been set up to provide equity support to the biotech companies.

At the recent CII Partnership Summit held in Hyderabad in January this year, eight MoUs were signed for biotech projects, with total investments of Rs 538 crore (Rs 5.38 billion).

The chief minister said two world-renowned drug discovery scientists Dr U Chandra Singh and Dr M Rami Reddy launched Genomic Design Pharmaceuticals Limited, a San Diego-based start-up.

The company is setting up its subsidiary in Hyderabad to undertake drug discovery and development activities with focus on novel small molecules and low molecular weight peptide drugs.

The Genomik Design Pharma facility at Hyderabad, with outlay of Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) in Phase-I with Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) raised from APIDC Venture Capital Fund, would develop, manufacture and market pharma drugs based on information generated by human genome project.

The company has identified potential drug molecules for cancer, AIDS, arthritis, anxiety, diabetes and premature ejaculation.

Out of the 200 biotech companies in India, Andhra Pradesh accounted for 75 companies, Naidu pointed out. He said the Pacific Health Care Holdings of Singapore signed a MoU for setting up a Rs 50 crore (500 million) hospital-cum-biomedical research center at Hyderabad for research on stem cell.

Similarly, Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, has decided to establish a biotechnology and bioinformatics center with focus on stem cell research.