Biocon may have competition for Nobex’s assets

‘‘Biocon’s bid simply indicates their opening offer to acquire Nobex’ assets. In the context of an auction, the assets ultimately will be awarded by the court to the qualifying company or investment group which delivers the highest offer,’’ Nobex Board Chairman Charles Dimmler was quoted on its website.

Nobex, a 12-year-old drug development company which specialises in oral delivery of protein and peptide drugs, filed for bankruptcy protection on December 1, 2005. The company has developed a portfolio of approximately 300 patents and patent applications, including several product candidates that have been in clinical study.

When contacted, Biocon did not reply to this newspaper’s query citing regulatory guidelines. ‘‘We are unable to comment/respond to your queries as we are pending our third-quarter results on January 18. We are in our silent period,’’ said Paula Sengupta, Head, Corporate Communications.

Bangalore-based Biocon, managed by Kiran Majumdar Shaw, and Nobex have been co-developing the revolutionary tablet-form oral insulin – IN1O5 – for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics. In a notice to the BSE on December 6, Biocon had said it has invested around Rs 27 crore in Nobex – Rs 4.5 crore as common stock and the rest in convertible loans.

If another pharma company manages to acquire Nobex with all the intellectual property assets in the bidding process, then there could be problems for Biocon’s plans, pharma observers say.

Biocon has already announced its intention to protect its interests. ‘‘Based on progress made till date, the company does not anticipate any disruption to its ongoing oral insulin research program, licensed from Nobex. The company is also seeking to acquire the intellectual property assets of Nobex,’’ Biocon had said.

According to the Nobex chairman, the court may order an auction in early March 2006.