Cohance Lifesciences to invest $18 million in NJ Bio, Aruka Bio to deepen ADC push

Cohance Lifesciences plans to invest a combined $18 million in NJ Bio and Aruka Bio as the company deepens its push into antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, an increasingly important class of targeted cancer treatments.

The company will invest $13 million to increase its ownership of NJ Bio and another $5 million in Aruka Bio, according to a press release filed with the NSE.

Both transactions will be funded through internal accruals and are expected to close by the end of September, subject to definitive agreements, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

The transactions effectively separate two parts of Cohance's ADC strategy: NJ Bio will concentrate on providing research and manufacturing services to customers, while Aruka will focus on developing its own experimental drugs.

Cohance raises stake in NJ Bio

Cohance will increase its common-equity ownership in NJ Bio to 67.3% from 56% by acquiring the entire holdings of Priyashri Nayak and the Jain Family Irrevocable Trust. Dr Naresh Jain will retain the remaining 32.7%.

NJ Bio provides contract research, development and manufacturing services, with expertise in areas including payload-linkers and bioconjugation — technologies used to attach potent drugs to antibodies so they can be delivered more precisely to targeted cells.

Cohance plans to integrate those capabilities more closely with its own manufacturing operations, allowing it to offer pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers services ranging from early-stage development through commercial manufacturing.

The restructuring follows a review of NJ Bio's performance and its integration with Cohance since the company's original investment in December 2024.

Cohance takes control of Aruka Bio

Separately, Cohance will invest $5 million in Princeton, New Jersey-based Aruka Bio, a private biotechnology company developing next-generation ADCs. Its lead drug programme is still at the preclinical stage.

The investment will be used to buy out existing shareholders and convertible noteholders and provide working capital.

Following the transaction and an upfront equity grant to Jain, Cohance will directly own 65% of Aruka, while NJ Bio will hold 25% and Jain 10%. Jain's stake could subsequently increase through a performance-linked equity award, diluting the other shareholders.

Aruka will become a direct subsidiary of Cohance.

The deal gives Cohance control of Aruka's proprietary ADC platform, which it hopes can eventually be used for co-development, licensing and other partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Jain will continue to lead NJ Bio while developing Aruka's pipeline and partnerships. He will eventually move full-time to Aruka as chief executive while remaining a strategic adviser to NJ Bio.

"This reorganisation gives each business a clear focus: strengthening NJ Bio's customer offering through closer integration with Cohance and creating the opportunity for Dr Jain to lead Aruka's next phase," said Umang Vohra, executive chairman and group CEO of Cohance Lifesciences.

Cohance shares closed 0.16% higher at ₹459.05 on the NSE on September 3.

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