Leading Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Nicholas Piramal [Get Quote], Orchid Chemicals and Jubilant Organosys [Get Quote], have tied up with foreign companies to leverage technology, talent and cost-benefits to develop new chemical entities (NCE).

Zydus Cadila, the latest to join the bandwagon, announced on February 4 a collaboration with Karo Bio of Sweden, an upcoming drug discovery company with expertise in nuclear receptors (a group of specific drug targets), structural biology and drug design.

Under the collaboration, which is for three years, Karo Bio will develop novel leads for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowels disease, psoriasis and asthma, which together represent a potential market of $10 billion.

"In India, new drug discovery research is in a nascent stages and it will take years for us to develop certain technologies and knowledge critical for drug development. Collaborations bring synergies into the process and critical knowledge," said Rashmi Barbhaiya, Chief Executive and Managing Director of Advinus Therapeutics, a Tata Group funded drug discovery company.

Advinus, which is developing drugs with multinational drug major Merck, also has a discovery programme with the Swiss-based Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-profit R&D organisation, to devise novel therapies for visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar, an India specific disease.

"Collaborations bring in synergy and global scale in research efforts. The investments can be fructified by developing a global blockbuster drug, which will be a huge business opportunity for both the parties," said Venkat Jasti, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Suven Life Sciences [Get Quote], the Hyderabad-based drug discovery company.

A few months ago, Suven teamed up with researchers at University of Minnesota, USA for developing new therapies to treat HIV/AIDS patients.

Barbhaiya notes that the economic benefits in such deals are impossible to calculate at this stage since the drug discovery process involves 10-15 years. More than that, most of the companies prefer not to disclose the financials involved in such deals.

"Accessing the right people and technology are the more important aspects in the drug discovery process," adds Bharbhaiya, who was also the research head at Ranbaxy Laboratories [Get Quote].

"This trend is a sign of the Indian drug discovery segment gaining maturity," said Jasti, citing most of the block buster drugs available in the world were developed through collaborations.

Last week, Nicholas Piramal India entered into a similar research agreement with France's Pierre Fabre Laboratories, one of the largest drug companies in Europe, to develop cancer drugs.

Chennai-based drug major Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals has an ongoing collaboration with Cellworks Research, a drug discovery specialist firm, in its efforts for the discovery of inflammation related disorders.