OmniBRx Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd

Background

OmniBRx Biotechnologies Pvt Ltd, established in 2016 and headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, is a bioprocess engineering company specializing in the design and development of novel single-use bioreactors (SUBs) for cell culture-based bioprocessing applications. The company's mission is to provide innovative and universal bioprocessing solutions that are highly efficient and scalable, particularly for biologics manufacturing, including vaccines, gene therapies, and stem cell therapeutics. OmniBRx aims to revolutionize the quality, scalability, and predictability of biologics manufacturing by offering cutting-edge technologies that meet the highest regulatory compliance standards.

Key Strategic Focus

OmniBRx's strategic focus centers on developing scalable and efficient single-use bioreactor platforms to meet the growing global demand for biologics and vaccines. The company's core objectives include:

Innovative Bioprocessing Solutions: Providing advanced bioreactor technologies that enhance cell culture processes.

Scalability: Offering bioreactors that are fully scalable from laboratory to commercial production scales.

Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring products meet stringent regulatory standards, including ISO class 8 clean room manufacturing and USP Class VI certifications.

OmniBRx's primary markets include biologics manufacturing, vaccines, human genetics and gene therapy, stem cell therapeutics, and tissue engineering.

Financials and Funding

In March 2023, OmniBRx secured a Series A equity investment of INR 30 crore (approximately USD 3.7 million) from SIDBI Venture Capital Limited. This funding is intended to support the company's expansion into overseas markets and to enhance its manufacturing facilities to meet increasing market demands.

Technological Platform and Innovation

OmniBRx's technological innovations are anchored in its proprietary Dynamic Bed Reactor (DBR) technology, which addresses key bioprocessing challenges such as scalability, efficiency, and affordability. The company's product portfolio includes:

CellBRx® Bioreactors: Fully integrated, perfusion-driven, high-cell-density bioreactors designed to simplify adherent cell culture processes. These bioreactors combine single-use technologies with dynamic-bed reactor technology, offering scalable culture systems from 0.5L to 200L.

PerfBRx: A scalable bioreactor technology for suspension cell culture, featuring perfusion-integrated single-use bioreactors with novel separation devices, scalable from 0.1L to 5000L.

These technologies are designed to improve mixing and mass transfer, reduce production risks with single-use, closed systems, and increase speed to market by reducing upstream validation requirements. Additionally, they aim to improve cell health and quality, resulting in homogeneous protein expression, and reduce costs related to capital expenditures, labor, facilities, and materials.

Leadership Team

Ravindra Patel: Founder and Chief Technology Officer, leading the company's technological innovations and strategic direction.

Anandprakash Joshi: Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operational management and business expansion initiatives.

Parth Joshi: Scientist and Scientific Liaison (Global), responsible for scientific research and global collaborations.

Hiral Solanki: HR Manager, managing human resources and organizational development.

Parth Prajapati: Executive Automation, focusing on automation processes within the company.

Competitor Profile

Market Insights and Dynamics: The bioprocessing industry is experiencing significant growth, driven by increasing demand for biologics, vaccines, and gene therapies. The market is characterized by rapid technological advancements and a shift towards single-use bioreactor systems that offer scalability and efficiency.

Competitor Analysis: OmniBRx operates in a competitive landscape with several key players:

Sartorius Stedim Biotech: Offers a range of single-use bioreactors and integrated solutions for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Provides bioprocessing equipment, including single-use bioreactors, catering to various scales of production.

Pall Corporation: Specializes in filtration, separation, and purification technologies, including single-use bioreactor systems.

These competitors focus on delivering scalable and efficient bioprocessing solutions, emphasizing innovation and regulatory compliance.

Strategic Collaborations and Partnerships

In August 2024, OmniBRx announced a strategic collaboration with the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an institute under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. This partnership aims to drive innovations in cell and gene therapy manufacturing, focusing on the development and commercialization of lentiviral vectors (LVV) and CAR-T cell therapies. The collaboration leverages OmniBRx's proprietary DBR technology and THSTI's expertise in cell-based therapies to create accessible and cost-effective therapeutic options.

Operational Insights

OmniBRx's strategic considerations include:

Market Positioning: Differentiating itself through proprietary DBR technology that offers scalability and efficiency in bioprocessing.

Competitive Advantages: Providing fully scalable culture systems, single-use closed systems, and cost-effective solutions that reduce production risks and accelerate time to market.