Fermenta Biotech yesterday announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services, a stepdown subsidiary of Dr Reddy’s. In this arrangement, Fermenta Biotech will exclusively license its proprietary biocatalytic technology for synthesis of Molnupiravir and supply its enzyme Candida Antarctica B Lipase (CAL B) to Aurigene Pharma, which then will exclusively procure the enzyme from Fermenta Biotech. Molnupiravir API manufactured by Aurigene Pharma will be utilised by Dr Reddy’s for its formulation. Additionally, Aurigene Pharma can also supply the API manufactured through this technology to other formulators of Molnupiravir, Fermenta Biotech informed in a statement.
The statement also said that the development follows Fermenta Biotech’s announcement of filing patents for its novel technology for synthesising Molnupiravir in April 2021. Subsequently, the process has been further optimised at the laboratory scale, with demonstrations being successfully conducted at Aurigene Pharma’s R&D centre in Hyderabad.