PlasmaGen raises $25M from Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital Partners
On Tuesday, Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company PlasmaGen BioSciences Private Limited announced having raised an investment of close to $25 million in a round led by Eight Roads Ventures India (the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International Limited) with participation from US-based F-Prime Capital Partners and the founders.
Focused on blood plasma-derived products, PlasmaGen was incorporated in 2010 with a vision to address the critical shortfall of plasma products that exists in India and many emerging markets today.
The company was founded by Vinod Nahar, a first-generation entrepreneur who is also the founder of Trigenesis Lifesciences, a healthcare products company catering to international markets.
The company sells a wide range of these products including albumin, IVIG, factor VIII, anti-D immunoglobulin, and rabies immunoglobulin to hospitals and governments in both India and emerging markets. These products are administered across various therapeutic areas such as neurology, haematology, oncology, immunology, paediatrics, and rheumatology.
PlasmaGen claims to have a pan-India network of more than 200 hospitals and 5,000 clinicians.
Speaking on the occasion, Vinod, Managing Director, PlasmaGen, said,
“This investment will help us grow multifold, as we aim to expand our product portfolio, achieve deeper market penetration, and look at new opportunities in strengthening our current product supply chain.”
He also added that this partnership with Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital will help PlasmaGen make a positive contribution towards improving the accessibility and affordability of plasma protein therapies in India.
CEO Dr Ranjeet S Ajmani added,
“There is a very large gap between demand and supply of plasma products not only in India but across Asia; India is very strategically placed as an emerging economy with huge demand potential.”
With the investment, Dr Prem Pavoor, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures, and Dr Robert Weisskoff, Partner at F-Prime Capital Partners, will join the board at PlasmaGen.
“The investment in PlasmaGen is a reflection of our continued conviction in the domestic pharmaceutical market,” said Dr Prem.
Further, Dr Prem added that while working with blood plasma products over the past five years, they have seen the country rapidly catching up on global benchmarks around the awareness and use of these critical products.
This year, the attention seems to gradually be returning to healthcare startups.
Last week, online pharma company 1mg had announced raising Series-C funding of $15 million led by HBM Healthcare Investments with existing investors Sequoia Capital, Maverick, and Kae Capital.
Just yesterday, news emerged that home healthcare firm Portea Medical has raised $25 million in a round led by private equity firm Sabre Capital.
This January, healthcare startup Practo raised Series-D funding of $55 million led by Tencent.