Co-Founder – Dr. Arjun Surya & Mr. Manish Tandon
Website – Curadev
Curadev is a small molecule drug discovery biotech with an exciting portfolio of research programs that have yielded patent protected drug candidates. Founded in 2010, Curadev has created a premier translational research organization known for prescient target selection and high-quality, data-driven program execution. Our programs seek to ameliorate disease by translating cutting-edge discoveries into new medicines. We have swiftly established our credentials by successfully creating and out-licensing our small molecule patents to major pharmaceutical companies
What does success mean to your company?
Curadev’s success has highlighted India’s early drug discovery capabilities and could be the poster child for Indian new drug discovery. Premier global pharma companies have licensed our novel compounds. This is a recognition that Indian pharma has strengths in innovation that lie beyond generic formulations, API manufacturing and contract research.
Partners desire high quality assets that address unmet needs and are protected by strong patents. Curadev is known for prescient target selection and high quality, data-driven program execution. Our programs seek to ameliorate disease by translating cutting edge discoveries into new medicines. Our partnering track record indicates that we meet their expectations.
What is the biggest challenge you faced during your start-up setup? How are you performing currently?
Biotech is a segmented industry and many activities come under its ambit. If we focus on innovation oriented biotechs such as Curadev, then since around 2010 BIRAC under the Department of Biotechnology, has been playing a role in nurturing early stage biotechs and has certain programs to aid them in later growth. There are a few venture capital funds that support such companies and though the number of these companies has expanded over the past decade, funding continues to be a major challenge for innovation focused biotech companies.
How are you performing currently?
Curadev’s track record of multiple out-licensing IP transactions to global pharma majors speaks to its scientific smarts, unusual tenacity and strategic use of its resources. This is all the more impressive given the short-comings in the eco-system. Curadev is now an established and credible innovator in the global new drug discovery arena and its success has highlighted the untapped potential of India’s early drug discovery capabilities.
How does your product stand different from others in the market?
Curadev is known for prescient target selection and high quality, data-driven program execution. Our research programs are ambitious and tackle complex problems by looking for modulators of early stage drug targets with little or no chemistry precedence and nascent knowledge of the pharmacology.
Who supports you to stand this business and how?
“We find that our culture of letting science do the talking allows us to find common ground and build alliances with scientists on the cutting edge of research in leading institutions across the world.
Among Curadev’s strengths is its ability to identify promising drug targets very early in the development cycle. This has allowed Curadev’s business development team to be a step ahead of global biotech competition when it comes to out-licensing promising assets for clinical development
Where do you see your business standing in the next 5 years?
Over the past decade Curadev has evolved from a company with nascent ideas to one with advanced pre-clinical assets that are headed for human clinical trials. This is a large increase in the complexity of operations and we have focused on addressing it while retaining our nimbleness and agility as an organization. In 2016 we expanded our footprint outside India to shore up our strengths in innovation and to access pre-clinical development capabilities. This year we will continue on this path by expanding our reach into the US/EU clinical trial space
About our team.
Conviction has been key to maintaining our motivational levels while navigating the steep and uncertain terrain of biotech drug discovery. Relationships within Curadev’s executive leadership team go back for more than a decade, enabling an open and frank atmosphere that nurtures creativity and encourages independent thinking, two attributes that are critical to the pursuit of complex common goals. We work by building a consensus on strategies and this approach has helped Curadev achieve high levels of conviction that have helped us overcome daunting odds.
