Veeda Clinical Research to file for Rs.700 crore IPO

Veeda Clinical Research plans to tap the primary market to raise up to Rs.700 crore through an initial public offer. The IPO is likely to be a combination of fresh issues and an offer for sale, where some of the early investors plan to take a partial exit via the OFS route. Veeda Clinical Research is yet to file the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI, but that is expected to happen in the near few weeks.

Veeda specializes in the focused segment of Bio Availability / Bio Equivalence (BA/BE) studies. These studies are extremely important for drugs going off-patent and generic manufacturers rely on these BA/BE studies to shortlist the specific generics to target. With a slew of drugs going off patent in the next 5-6 years, Veeda expects their order book to be robust in the next few years. 

Veeda is backed by CX Partners and in June this year there were a number of new backers who infused $16 million into the company. The new backers include Sabre Partners, Pranab Mody of JB Chemicals, Havells India family office, Nikhil Vora of Sixth Sense Ventures and Arjun Bhartia of Jubilant Group.

In addition to BA/BE tests, Veeda also does clinical trials of biosimilars and novel drugs. The elaborate testing of the COVID-19 vaccine in India has showcased the skill-sets of Indian companies in this testing space. Veeda expects that global companies would increasingly look at India for outsourcing such testing activities.

Veeda has conducted more than 3,500 trials and developed more than 1,000 bio-analytical methods spread across generics, new chemical entities and biosimilars. It has also been able to complete over 80 global inspections. The fresh funds will be used to bankroll its expansion plans, especially after the successful Phase-3 trials conducted in India for the COVID-19 vaccines.