Nicholas Piramal, Napo in agreement for diabetes' agent discovery

New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) Pharma major Nicholas Piramal India today entered into a plant screening agreement with California's Napo Pharmaceuticals to discover novel diabetes therapeutic agents.

Under the agreement, the company will utilise its high throughout screening facility and natural product chemistry expertise along with biological testing capabilities to identify active compounds from Napo's library of medicinal plant extracts from tropical regions.

''This agreement allows us to utilise our screening capabilities and expertise in working with natural products for both companies' benefit,'' company Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) Somesh Sharma said.

Nicholas and Napo will jointly own all products that are developed under the agreement, a company statement said.

Diabetes is a major focus of Nicholas Pharma while Napo Pharmaceuticals focuses on the development and commercialisation of proprietary pharmaceuticals for the global marketplace.

UNI