Tata Industries Ltd (TIL) on Friday said it has bought a 26-30% stake in US- based Indigene Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum, making it the third investment by the Tatas in the country’s bio-pharmaceuticals sector.

Indigene is a bio pharmaceutical company with operations in the US, Europe and India and specializes in multiceutics mode of drug research and development whereby multiple molecules target multiple pathways to give more efficient therapies. The company was founded in 2002, and has a drug for allergic rhinitis in Phase III clinical trials, apart from four products in the consumer healthcare segment. The consumer healthcare products will be launched in the US market soon. The company is also working on developing molecular combination drug leads in oncology, metabolic and respiratory disorders and infectious diseases. It plans to launch its products in India by 2007.

Justifying the group’s investment in a fledgling company like Indigene, TIL Managing Director Kishor Chaukar said that Indigene had made good advances in bringing together its technology and knowledge base to create a commercially viable business model in a short span of time. Earlier, the group, along with Rashmi Barbhaiya, had floated Advinus Therapeutics, a drug discovery company, apart from investing in Avestha Gengraine.