Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd has signed a collaborative research agreement in the area of new drug discovery research with Avestha Gengraine Technologies to carry out project activity relating to construction of recombinant cell lines required for screening Ranbaxy's drug candidates.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr Patell, founder and CEO, Avesthagen, said, "Avesthagen's vision has been to promote new drug discovery and support and enable Indian pharma companies to reach and address the needs of the global markets. We are glad to partner with Ranbaxy in this endeavor and look forward to a very fruitful relationship."

Kasim Mookhtiar, vice president -- NDDR, R&D, Ranbaxy, said, "With the rapid growth of new drug discovery research at Ranbaxy, opportunities exist for collaborative work. We are pleased to avail of Avesthagen's quality R&D services in cutting edge technology to augment our capacity so that our current needs can be met in a timely manner."

Avesthagen is a fully-integrated biotechnology & bioinformatics company, focusing on the convergence between food, pharma and clinical genomics leading to preventive personalised medicine.

Avesthagen provides innovative solutions for global challenges in health problems in the areas of degenerative conditions, metabolic disorders and infectious diseases.

Avesthagen is India's first discovery-based biotechnology company.

Avesthagen's business model is built on the synergetic links between R&D services provided and on-going initiatives for novel product development.

Based on this model the company has created strategic business units in cutting edge biotechnology -- among them being the assay group that develops and implements cell and biochemical assays to cater to the screening and lead optimisation requirements of pharmaceutical companies involved in new drug discovery.