Biocon CEO Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

        Indian biotech giant Biocon is planning to take Syngene, its in-house CRO, public in an IPO on the local exchange.

        As Business Standard reports, Biocon has filed to offer 22 million shares of Syngene, an 11% stake, in a public offering. The company expects to gross about $95 million in the deal, finally pulling the trigger on an IPO it has discussed since 2012.

        Syngene, which Biocon bills as Asia's fastest-growing CRO, offers drug discovery and development services to clients around the globe, employing about 2,300 people. And taking it public is at once an effort to raise cash for Biocon's internal R&D and "to give Syngene a life of its own," Managing Director Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw told the newspaper.

        Last quarter was Syngene's best ever, according to Biocon, as the CRO brought in about $35 million in revenue. And Syngene Director Peter Bains said the company is on track to keep the momentum for the full year, expanding its order book and partnering with Big Pharma.

        In January, Biocon sold a 10% stake of Syngene to IVF Trustee Company for about $60 million, valuing the CRO at roughly $600 million.

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