Anthem Biosciences is a science-led contract research, development and manufacturing partner - a CRDMO - that drug innovators hire to turn a molecule into a medicine, from the earliest discovery experiments all the way to factory-scale production. Founded in 2006 as a discovery research shop in Bengaluru, it has spent nearly two decades building a single integrated platform that now handles both small-molecule chemistry and large-molecule biologics under one roof, a combination its CEO says most Indian peers have not matched. The recurring approach is to start early with a client’s science, feed that relationship into later-stage manufacturing contracts, and increasingly make its own key raw materials rather than buying them from China - a vertical grip that shows up in everything from its GLP-1 peptide work to its fermentation-based ingredients. # Business segments Two engines built on the same fermentation and synthesis backbone - a CRDMO platform that takes drugs from idea to commercial supply, and a specialty ingredients business that sells science-based nutrition and pharma products directly to other companies. ## 1. CRDMO Services: the drugmaker behind the drugmaker **An end-to-end outsourced science engine that earns fees by doing the chemistry, biology and factory work global pharma companies prefer not to do themselves - and the early-stage discovery work feeds the commercial manufacturing pipeline.** - **Paid by the experiment, not the pill** - 91% of R&D revenue comes from fee-for-service contracts, meaning clients pay for each study or batch rather than for full-time staff, which aligns cost directly to project milestones. - **Discovery is the feeder** - the early-stage chemistry and biology work is only about 10% of revenue, but it creates the relationships that grow into the larger development and commercial manufacturing contracts later, giving the company a long tail of revenue from each client relationship. - **Fourteen molecules already at commercial scale** - the company is currently manufacturing 14 commercial drugs, four of which were added just this year, alongside 10 more in late-stage Phase III trials and over 100 earlier-stage programmes, so the pipeline of future factory work is already visible. - **Backward integration that rivals cannot easily copy** - for complex peptides like the GLP-1 drug semaglutide, Anthem makes the fermentation fragment in-house while most competitors buy it from China, giving it a cost advantage and making it one of the few Indian players able to compete on price against Chinese producers. ## 2. Specialty Ingredients: science-based nutrition and pharma products sold directly **A fermentation-powered product business that manufactures probiotics, enzymes, nutritional actives and niche APIs and sells them to other companies - a steadier revenue stream built on the same biological manufacturing backbone as the CRDMO.** - **Fermentation is the shared factory floor** - the segment draws on the same 182 KL of fermentation capacity that serves the CRDMO business, with dedicated infrastructure for probiotics and enzymes at the NeoAnthem Unit III facility, where the 40 KL fermentation capacity is yet to be commissioned. - **A catalogue of science-based ingredients** - the portfolio spans probiotics like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium for human and animal nutrition, therapeutic enzymes, nutritional actives such as CoQ10 and PQQ, vitamin analogues including Vitamin K2 MK-7, and niche APIs like Cabergoline and Valganciclovir for regulated markets. - **Sold directly, not developed for clients** - unlike the CRDMO’s fee-for-service model, this segment generates revenue through direct B2B sales of manufactured specialty ingredients, making it a product business rather than a service business. # Group structure and partners **A listed parent company with a wholly owned subsidiary that houses the newest factory, supported by bank guarantees and a convertible loan structure that can turn debt into equity.** - **Parent and subsidiary split by factory** - Anthem Biosciences Limited, the listed entity, operates Unit I at Bommasandra and Unit II at Harohalli, while its wholly owned subsidiary NeoAnthem Lifesciences Private Limited runs the newly commissioned Unit III at Harohalli. - **Bank guarantees back the subsidiary** - in January 2026, Anthem issued corporate guarantees totalling Rs. 49 Crores to Citi Bank and Federal Bank as security for working capital credit facilities taken by NeoAnthem. - **US market access through a partner** - a strategic partnership with Davos Pharma helps reach biotech companies in the United States while reducing cost and supply chain risks.