Bharat Biotech arm Nucelion to collaborate with Pandorum Tech on two PRIP-backed projects

Cell and gene therapy CDMO and vaccine maker Bharat Biotech’s subsidiary Nucelion Therapeutics and Pandorum Technologies, a Bengaluru-based tissue engineering and regenerative medicine company, will collaborate on two ophthalmology projects under a manufacturing partnership. The projects are backed by the Centre’s Promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech sector (PRIP) scheme.

The projects will focus on developing investigational therapies for advanced keratopathy and wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD). They have a combined outlay of ₹16.97 crore, including up to ₹8 crore in funding under the PRIP scheme, launched by the Centre in 2023.

Through the collaboration with Hyderabad-based contract development and manufacturing organisation Nucelion, Pandorum will connect programmable regenerative-medicine design with reproducible manufacturing and indication-specific development.

Nucelion’s role in the two investigational projects will centre on process development and manufacturing support for Pandorum’s designer exosomes. The partnership reflects the role specialised manufacturing capabilities can play in the development of emerging regenerative medicines. At a broader level, the collaboration is intended to provide material manufactured under good manufacturing practice (GMP) for clinical studies in India and abroad, the companies said on Wednesday.

“Our role is to help translate Pandorum’s product requirements into reproducible processes and development-stage manufacturing,” said Raghu Malapaka, Chief Business Officer of Nucelion.

The advanced-keratopathy programme by Pandorum is directed towards clinical evaluation of investigational therapies for severe corneal disease. The wet-AMD programme extends the platform into retinal disease, with the company’s current project focused on preclinical development and preparation for subsequent clinical translation.

“PRIP support enables us to advance two distinct ophthalmology programmes through a common designer-exosome platform. Our collaboration with Nucelion connects that platform to the manufacturing capability,” said Tuhin Bhowmick, co-founder and CEO of Pandorum.

The Centre’s Department of Pharmaceuticals had in August announced the second call for applications under the PRIP. The scheme with a financial outlay of ₹5,000 crore aims to strengthen India’s pharma and medtech research and development ecosystem by supporting startups, MSMEs and large companies to leapfrog up the innovation value chain, the Department said.

This is the second project announcement by Nucelion this month. Earlier it announced a collaboration with VeGen Bio, a Hyderabad-based precision oncology company, for the technology transfer, clinical manufacturing and commercial production of innovative cell therapies.

Published - October 28, 2026 08:03 pm IST